a girl like me

deery-lou.
this past weekend was festival central here in korea. it seems like every neighborhood was having one. i went to bc's hood on saturday for new waves in gwangmyeong, a music festival. the mustangs were playing. it was strange seeing them during the day and on such a huge stage. i'm used to seeing them in tiny bars. it was a great day to be outside. the weather was amazing. while waiting for the mustangs to take the stage we caught another band same old story. they pretty much rocked! after the show we checked the merchandise area. i wanted to see if they had same old story's cd. no luck. time to hit the record stores.

we went back to bc's pad to get ready for the big evening. it was prom night. 80's prom night to be exact. this event was put together by miss chen and some others. i don't even remember how long it took us to get ready. bc was having SOME issue with her wardrobe. i had brought two separate outfits with me and bc helped me select the best one. here we are looking our somewhat finest…

she blinded with me science

being a foreigner here one comes to expect the constanst stares. throw on an 80's getup and it becomes even more magnified. it felt like i was walking down the street with a "hey, look at me!" sign around my neck. when we got to club [ta:] it was pretty dead. had i brought my magic eightball it probably would have said "outlook not so good". we grabbed some drinks, chatted we some peeps, and before i knew it people were pouring in. the place looked great. chen and company did a fab job. i was pleasantly surprised to see so many peeps showed up in 80's attire. there were some great digs. i even had a few flashback moments, especially when a girl walked by with giant hair. during my senior year at lbhs [1988] the halls were packed with giant-hair girls. i still get nightmares. everyone seemed to be having a great time. i even managed to get quite a few compliments on my outfit, all of which came directly out of my closet. there was live music, a fashion show, lots of great tunes, and even a ballot box for king and queen. i don't know who got crowned. bc and i left around midnight. i wasn't feeling up to par plus my new shoes felt like bricks on my feet. the cab ride back to bc's was something else. he was literally driving at top speed never failing to go through every red light we encountered. at one point i actually thought i was going to be sick. and i had only had two drinks. my second prom was officially over and it was the second time i didn't score. they say that the third times a charm. i'll just have to wait and see.

bc and i found ourselves to be up fairly early on sunday. we lounged around then decided to set out in quest of phone cards. yes, our list was put on hold this weekend. i scored two phone cards from two different places. combined its such a better deal then what i was paying before. during the course of our day we found ourselves at a bookstore and a foreign market. at the market i found montery/cheddar cheese, picante sauce, flour tortillas, corn chips, spaghetti sauce with olives, and beets. all of which i bought. lunch was somewhat of a bust. we were so hungry we ended up stopping at a sandwich place. i ordered an italian sandwich which turned out to be a hotdog with special sauce. gotta love it. i got back to ansan about 4pm. it felt so good to take off my new shoes. breaking in shoes is H.A.R.D. noone ever said fashion was easy.

be well…

p.s. here's bc all decked out in the skirt she bought for prom but didn't wear. so cute.

she's a valley girl…

chelsea girls

deery-lou.
this song popped up in my head the other day. oh, the randomness of life. i actually haven't heard this song in some time. i heart the go-go's…

The Go-Go's
Girl of 100 Lists

Ghetto blasters, phony jewels
Cathedrals, castles, making up rules
Trashy novels and leather gloves
This is a list of the things I love

CHORUS
I am the girl of 100 lists
From what shall I wear
To who I have kissed
Check items off
Let nothing be missed
Sing I to myself and my 100 lists

Pick up your laundry, doctor's at ten
We're out of toothpaste, rehearsal (again)
Stop by the bank and cash my pay
These are the things I must get done today

CHORUS

Ricky and Danny and Terry and Jim
Dean lasted six months-don't forget him
Perhaps some day this list will end
Till then I tally my gentlemen friends

CHORUS

be well…

not even jail

deery-lou.
i've been having a lot of dreams lately. more than usual. at least 3 a night. not sure what brought about this sudden onslaught of mini-movies in my mind. so it seemed only fitting to add this to my blog. something i found on the science of sleep site. perhaps there was a reason i stumbled onto that site.



be well…

damaged people

deery-lou.
oh the places you can go…last night while having a fit of insomnia i decided to "personalize" my free google page. while searching for things to put on it i stumbled upon a link for FOUND magazine. i love this mag. having been away for so long i had forgotten about this gem. they specialize in printing "found" materials: letters, photos, lists, etc. that give a glimpse into someone's life. i never really thought to look for them online. my mistake. but now that i've "found" them again i can go back to enjoying those treasures left behind. be sure to check it out if you're into stuff like that. i know i am…

so while on the FOUND site i came across an ad for the movie the science of sleep. it's a new film by michel gondry. the trailer looks amazing. very visual, very mystical. i can't wait to see it. i only hope it finds its way to korea. its looks like one of those films that needs to be seen on the big screen. what has me most excited is that it stars gael garcia bernal. a definite hottie if i do say so myself. ever since amores perros i've been a huge fan of his. and then there was y tu mama tambien. swoon!

movie still

in the film bernal's character is living somewhere between his "dream" world and "reality". he comes up with a disastrology calendar, illustrations of diastors likes car crashes, plane crashes, earthquakes, etc. you can see these images on the site. the drawings are actually pretty cool in a weird kind of way. here's a sample:

earthquake

anyway…i think i've lost track of what i was attempting to say. so here's to the bizarre and quirky.

be well…

superconnected

deery-lou.

Your Life Path Number is 22

Your purpose in life is to use your power for good Of all the life paths, yours has the most innate power. Your power lies in your vision, and you must recruit others to help you in this vision. You are able to be a great idealist, but you still have the practicality to get things done. In love, you tend to be a big romantic - but you also tend to keep your distance. You have a lot of potential, and it's sometimes hard to live up to. Sometimes you just feel like slipping into obscurity and doing nothing. You tend to be prone to dramatic emotions, until you step back and look at things honestly.

What Is Your Life Path Number?

so true in alot of ways.
be well…

this place is a prison

deery-lou.
frustrated. angry. that's how i felt after getting off the phone with the earthlink people. trying to cancel my sprintmail account was much more difficult than it should have been. one thing i did realize is that the people at earthlink are morons. complete morons. i spent an hour on the phone mostly on hold. they managed to suck all the minutes off my international card—bastards! sometimes i wonder why they even have the computer prompted questions. as soon as a person answered they asked me the same ones. and of course they had to switch me to someone else. then this person couldn't find my account in their database. funny that i could read all my account info but this genius couldn't. i tried to explain to him that i'm calling internationally. he kept telling me i was on the toll free line. hi, its not toll free when calling out of the country. he still couldn't find my info so i got sent to embark. i guess they own part of sprint. the empark guy couldn't help me either. he said he was getting a supervisor but instead i got sent to a sprint phone sales person. she kept asking me for my cell phone number. over and over i explained that i'm calling to cancel an email account. "you get phone email," she said. she couldn't help. she sent me back to embark. the new embark lady happened to be quite helpful. she managed to track down a earthlink employee who knew what they were doing. the el employee asked me why i was leaving. i basically told her that i don't have time for these stupid questions since i've been on the phone at international rates for an hour now. she got the message and said that as of sept 26 my account will be termintated. thanks for listening to me rant. i think i'm over it now.

be well…

p.s. i'd like to make another shout out to the embark lady who was so helpful. sorry i didn't get to thank you on the phone. your the best!

our time

deery-lou.
here's a note from a former student.

to Ethan.....
Ethan. Hi! I'm Mary
Long tine no see.
How about you?
How about your trip?
I'm miss you.
see you later!!
bye bye!
I Love you!

to: Ethan
From: Mary

sweet.

be well…

transgender bar

deery-lou.

so going to check this out.
its actually in my hood of all places.

full moon, empty heart

deery-lou.
construction, contruction, construction!! that's all i hear nowadays. the koreans love to work 7 days a week. there's nothing like waking up on a sunday morning at 8am to a saw. it's sunday, people. take a freakin' rest. the building is begining to take shape and i think its going to be a church. yes, a church right in my backyard. perhaps its a sign. from the looks of it, its going to be fairly big. they're even building what i think is a giant parking garage next to my apartment building which is connected to the church thats behind my building. more on that as it progresses…

princess and i attempted to complete operation transtot. however, it was a slight bust due to the fact i couldn't find the flyer for the transgender bar. all we could remember was that it was close to carrefour. we decide to stroll around jungang dong hitting all the stationary stores that came into our path. its fun having someone come to my hood. at one store i almost ended up buying a 5,000 won [$5] pencil that i thought was 500 won. i opted out of the purchase. we went to one of my favorite places which i simple call "the batcave". we ordered a pitcher of beer, a plate of fries, sweet and sour chicken, and a fruit plate all for 18,000 won. can't beat that. princess amazed me with her great reading ability. the menu was in korean. even our waitress commented on it. while enjoying our meal we decided that operation transtots would have to be aborted this time. we now had operation boardtot. we set out to hit up the boardgame room for a night of gaming. we found one place that was also a pc room. score. however, the gods were not on our side that night and no sooner had we stepped inside when the guy came running over to us making the the infamous "x" sign with his arms. boardtots had been aborted. there was only one thing to do. operation transtot was set back in motion. off to carrefour we went. along the way we had some girls run after us just to say hi. it never ends. we left the lively jungangdong and headed into sleepy ansan new town, my old hood. we circled carrefour with no luck. once again operation transtot was set aside. at this point we were both sort of beat so we headed back to my pad. i took princess along the scenic route so she could see the houses. the houses are a much better sight at night.

we had an early start to our sunday thanks to the workers. we made plans to meet up with bc at noryangjin station at one. the majority of the morning was spent trying to motivate ourselves. before jumping onto the train we stopped at dunkin donuts. i suckered myself into trying the iced blueberry white chocolate. why am i such a sucker for blueberry things. it basically tasted like mik with blueberry flavoring. so not good. on the train princess tried to spruce my drink up abit my adding some coffee to it. as i tried to close the lid i managed to shoot a load of whip cream onto the woman next to me. she didn't noticed and princess and i couldn't stop laughing. lunch was had at a tofu restaurant. its actually a chain but quite good. after lunch we set out to find sayuksin park which happens to be one of the things on "the klist of things to do" that i compiled for bc and i. we strolled around the grands. there's a good view of the han river. there are also some tombs. i busted out my 35mm to take pictures. i can't tell you how long its been since i used it. it felt good.

on the way back to the train station we stopped in at artbox. bc helped pick out my new pencil case. its a mini-case. i needed to downside. its "super panada, i believe i can fly". its got some great quotes on it like "alcohol is my soulmate", " let's party like rock stars!", etc. now you understand why i couldn't say no.

fun fact:
40: thats how many people we counted wearing socks and sandals in a time span of 5 mins.

be well…

the list

deery-lou.
so that i won't lose it. here's the list of things i compiled for bc and i to do. i will probably add more to it as things come up.

the klist of things to do
line 1
1. deoksugung palace [also on line 2]
2. chongdong theather - traditional performance arts series [also line 2]
3. jongmyo royal ancestral shrine [also line 3, line 5]
4. royal quard changing ceremony - 2 - 3:30pm
5. hongneung arboretum
6. sayuksin park - there are some tombs there done
7. saenamto martyr's shrine - catholics persecuted there

line 2
1. kukkiwon - taekwondo headquarters hehe
2. bongwonsa temple
3. jeoldusan martyr's shrine [also line 6]
4. sillim - area know for sundae [pork sausage]
5. nakseongdae park
6. bongeunsa temple/kimchi field museum
7. seonjeongneung royal tombs
8. the aquarim at the coex

line 3
1. gyeongbokgung palace done
2. national museum of korea done
3. unhyeongung - private house of royal family
4. changdeokgung palace and huwon
5. seocho flea market - saturdays 10 to 3 pm done
6. seodaemun prison hall done
7. yangjae flower market done

line 4
1. changgyeonggung palace
2. china town in incheon
3. donam-dong - "youth town" as the book calls it

line 5
1. yeouido park - for walking around etc. i think we can get boat cruise there
2. bangi-dong baekje tombs
3. jananpyeong antique market
4. rodeo street - i have no idea what this is but definitely needs to be looked into
5. yunjungno cherry blossom trails - best time to do is in april
6. pungnap earthen fortess

line 6
1. war memorial of korea done
2. taerung royal tomb

line 8
1. seokchon-dong early baekje stone temples
2. mongchon earthen fortess

some other things in seoul area
1. seoul city tour
2. boat cruise - i think we can do this from yeouido park
3. seoul nori madang - an outside performance during the afternoons, i think its near city hall
4. bukhansan national park - hiking, picnicing
5. tabuki storm - totally misspelled it, drumming performance
6. suwon fortress
7. cafe street [ask princess]

some things outside of seoul
1. ganghwado island
2. hwanseongul cave
3. ulleungdo island
4. asan hot springs
5. jeju-do

moral kiosk

deery-lou.
my shoes have arrived. how happy am i. oh, how i love big shoes.


happy stomping. be well…

your ghost

deery-lou.
some mindless fun from the internet. zenjen did one for me on myspace. in the picture i was wearing sunglasses. the celebrity match up was something else. check it out if you have time. there's a link to my myspace in the sidebar. here's the one i did. a much better selection. who is kian egan and jensen ackles?



be well…

shark/white bikini sand

deery-lou.
for some unknown reason i decided to check out my results on blogpatrol. this tells me a lot of useless information about my blog like: amount of visitors per day/hour, referrers, keywords, search engines, browsers, etc. there was one site under referrers that i didn't recognize so i decided to check it out: click here. my spanish is quite rusty these days but from what i can make out this blogger is listing 5 sites for blogday 2006. yeah, i have no idea what that means. most of the sites seem to be about korea. i couldn't really tell about number 5. after reading the bloggers tag, it appears that they are in korea, too. anyway…so there in the number three spot is my blog, seoul train. next to it is a description that reads: "otro maestro loco de inglés viviendo en Korea." again, it's been some time since my high school spanish class but i think it says: "another crazy english teacher living in korea." now i'm wondering—is that a crazy good or a crazy bad?

some more useless information i learned today. the following is the top keywords. once again this provided by blogpatrol for my blog.

1	"sauna outfit" gym (Google)
1	kris kross (Netscape)
1	korean young teen got rape in jungle (Yahoo)
1	seoul lotte hotel world sex (MSN)
1	fahrenhiet degree (Google)
1	emart + seoul (Yahoo)
1	hongdae park sunday market (Yahoo)

aww, the internet. what a strange and wonderful place.

be well…

neighborhood #3 [power out]

deery-lou.
first of all i want to give a great big shout out to mistyl who celebrated her birthday on sept. 9.

happy birthday,
misty!

you know i wish i could have been there to help you celebrate. at least i got to speak to her so that was good. one day soon we'll be celebrating birthdays together again.

saturday before heading into seoul i had lunch with young teacher at the tofu house. we ate so much food. we spent almost two hours there. it was nice to just sit and chat. we haven't been able to do that in some time since school is quite busy these days. from ansan i travel to hongdae to meet up with bc and her beau charlie. we met at club ff for the "pop the cherry!" show…


the main draw was to see nunco band [see link in sidebar]. as usual they put on an awesome show. this was the third time i've seen them and they keep getting better. they are definitely one of these bands that need to be seen live. i dig their cd but it doesn't do them justice. they're definitely a performance group with loads of energy. you can tell they have a good time playing together. the lead singer has that chic-geek appeal to him. they have a way about them to make you feel good and wanna dance. everytime i hear them i can't help but think of them in the same vain as the b-52's [a band that brought me much joy in my youth].

oriental lucy was the first band. the lead singer works at club aura and i had met her once before awhile go. they good. they definitely got the crowd going. she look so cute too. decked out in a short flowy blue dress, marron hose, black heels, beaded necklaces, and a leather coat. i love asian rock stars. will definitely check them out again. plus the drummer is quite nice to look at. actually the whole band is.

throughout the show their were three peeps walking around in turbans. from the minute i saw them i assumed they were part of sultan of disco. of course i was correct. which leads me this act. i'm still not sure if i actually saw what i saw or i was dream. although i know that bc and others were there so it must have happened. describing it won't even do it justice. its one of the things that one must experience to get the full pleasure from it. it was part dance performance. part lip-sync. part like watching a singing comedy sketch. but it was all good. the element of surprise is a great thing. the sultans are definitely something i wouldn't have necessarily sought out but i'm sure glad i stumbled upon them. the audience loved it. they wanted an encore. since this was their first time playing out they didn't have any more. so they played the last song again and everyone loved it even more. i almost forgot. besides the turbans they had on sunglasses and white tops. the two girl backup singers wore all black with white lace that criss-crossed along the chest. and then there was the mask guy. not sure what he was about. during their set the masked one held up a sign that said "b-boy' and then a number to call. apparently they are looking for boy dancers. perhaps i've found my new calling…

sultan of disco

the masked one

last night i got to see arie, nabi bartender, again. its been awhile since i've seen her. luckily i had the cds i made for with me. she was quite surprise when i handed them to her. also met these two adorable girls that bc had met. they were so damn cute and very excited that they got to meet the members of nunco. will probably rank this show as one of the tops in korea.

be well…

stained

deery-lou.
twice this week i've seen it. both times at night while i was on my way home from taekwondo. at different times. in different places. glowing orange as it passed by. staring at me with its evil grin. is it a sign. an omen. or simply a lucky charm. i've tried to capture it on film. although i was much to slow. it catches me off guard. when i close my eyes i can see it. it intrigues me, yet haunts me, too. like ghosts and goblins on halloween. questions run amuck in my head. answers that i need to get. perhaps one day i will. until then it will continue to thrive in my dreams. this mysterious thing that i call…the pumpkin truck.

be well…

this-that

deery-lou.
r.i.p deery-lou. you served me well, however, your time has come. your tattered skin is showing your age. how i wish our time could be longer. my money, cards, etc. must now take residence with the smurfs. you will be missed but not forgotten.

be well…

the wretched

deery-lou.
the park is definitely a great place to people watch. last sunday i watched volleyball-soccer. thats when they don't use their hands to play volleyball. only head and feet. the net is much lower than normal. it interesting to watch but not sure i'd want to play. i also saw the elderly korean folk out in full force pulling weeds. thats one job i don't think i'd ever want. now i know why they are all hunched over. the best part of the day was when an elderly woman who spoke no english approached me. she wanted to know what time it was and i figured it out. yeah, me! note to self: spend more time in the park.

be well…

mama cita

deer-lou.
here it is in all its glory—my apartment, my home!

my apartment building

magnet/postcard door

sink & stove

fridge

view from kitchen

here's where i do all my living/sleeping

main wall

my first bookshelf in korea

supergirl flies above my bed to protect me from evil

the pez guard my clothes

the bathroom

the shower, yes its between toilet and sink

looking into the kitchen

the washer

the block view from balcony

the marvelous park

be well…

where i end and you begin [the sky is falling in]

deery-lou.
its been almost a month since i've settled into my new pad. there's a few things i realized:

1. i need to add more art to my bare walls
2. photos must be taken to show friends
3. i love airconditioning
4. seeing the park from my balcony makes me happy
5. having a pad that feels like home is a nice feeling

so it looks like this weekend i'll attempt to finish #1 and #2. as of today i'm officially starting year 3 here in korea. i can't believe 2 years have passed already. at times it feels like i just got here. perhaps thats because on a daily basis there are new things to experience. gotta love that. i went and got my haircut today. it funny that the best haircuts i've gotten have been here. especially since the guy who cuts my hair speaks no english. go figure.

be well and stay cool…

the world is full of crashing bores

deery-lou.
now here's a rafting adventure i could get into. i'm digging the waders and shorts look. perhaps i've found my spring 2007 look.


be well…

7 sub-culture

deery-lou.
a photo-documentation in footwear. an ongoing project. the following were taken in san francisco during my vacation in early august 2006.

street

ted

kate

john

misty

adawg.01

jethan

derek

adawg.02

hez

curbside

be well…

you can't walk in your sleep

deery-lou.
while sitting in the park today i saw a little girl riding a bright red bike. as she rode passed she was singing to herself. it reminded me of the days when i use to play chips on my bike. i was always jon. hehe.

this past weekend we had an office retreat. the destination was stone story in incheon. stone story is a korean style hostel located in the middle of nowwhere surrounded by rice fields. the road to get there was quite narrow and i'm sure that if there was major rain its be flooded.

stone story sign & rice field

we left friday after work and got there around 10ish. jk's friend who also happens to be an investor in our school was there too with his company. they were already there when we arrived and had the bbq going in full force. we dropped off our bags into the room and went down to eat. there were plates after plates of various meats, shrimp, and kimchi. there was also plenty of beer and soju flowing. i ate until i could eat no longer. we sat around mingling and drinking until it was time for the games to begin. yes we had games. this retreat was well organized thanks to jk's pal. the first game was yut [four sticks game] where you threw four sticks and depending on how they landed was how many spaces you moved. the first team to successfully move all four of their games pieces around the board won. we were divided into 4 teams of five. we were each giving 50,000 won. before playing each player gave 20,000 won for the pot. the winning team would divide the money among the players. my team lost in round one. after the dice game was over there was a another game to play. earlier in the evening we all wrote down our name on a specific date on a calendar. originally i went for 30 but was told that the numbers stop at 23 or i opted for 22. exactly how the game was played i'm not really sure. all i know that when they got to our number they went to another piece of paper and followed some maze until they got to a prize. so basically everyone was a winner. gotta love games like that. my prize was a 70,000 won gift certificate to lotte department store. which i believe i can also use at lotte mart. score!! once the games were finished we went back outside for more drinking and eating. at 3am jk decided to have our staff meeting. it was chaos because most of the staff was drunk and not listening very well. it was during this time that jk announced to the staff that i was promoted to head teacher. yes, i kid you not. after thinking about it for some time i decided to accept the offer. not really sure why because i really don't want all that extra responsibilty but jk and christine insist that it won't interfere with my regular work. it basically means that i have to check all of the teachers' lesson plans and be the point person for any complaints or request. should be easier enough. i finally decided to go to bed around 4:30am. when i got to the sleeping room it was already pretty full so i grabbed a space in the corner and tried to sleep. didn't really get much that night. beside the room being extremely warm there a constant snoring that was louder than anything i heard before. i woke up numberous times throughout the night to find a pair of feet in my face. oh, the joy. i found it hard to function on saturday. besides the lack of sleep i couldn't cool myself down. it was like being in a sauna. we packed up and headed to a school where they had a kick ball game organized for the day. i'm still amazed at how the koreans can drink all night then get up and play sports like nothing happened. i opted out of the game. i wasn't in any condition to be running around a field. after the game we grabbed some lunch. the restaurant was across from the beach so afterwards we took a little walk to the ocean's edge.

group shot

we got back to ansan around 4pm. i spent the rest of the day in bed in my aircondtioned apartment watching project runway. good times.

be well…

photos from stone story retreat

soundtrack of my life

deery-lou.
so here i sit at school way earlier than i need to be. completely bored!!! i was suppose to have taekwondo this morning but my master is m.i.a. i couldn't work on my computer at home cuz the batteried died and my ac adapter was at school. by the time i finished two mangas it was only 10:30 am. so i decided i came here. ordered some brunch and checked my emails. now its 12:40pm. my class doesn't start to 2pm. i think i need a nap. tonight my school is going off on a mini-retreat. i'm not quite sure where cuz they never tell us those things. all i do know is that we will be back saturday evening.

on myspace there was a "soundtrack" survey posted by chen. since i had sooo much spare time i decided to fill it out. normally what i do on myspace stays on myspace but today i felt like sharing it to those of you who don't use myspace. i know. you're probably thinking, "aren't we lucky". feel free to completely skip this post. it won't hurt my feelings. honestly i won't even know. anyway, on with the bulletin:

if you're life was a movie, what would the soundtrack be?
so, here's how it works:
1. opemyour itunes, ipod, etc.
2. place it on shuffle.
3. Press play.
4. for every question type the song that's playing.
5. for every new question advance to the next song. [no cheating. you must write down the song the is next. don't skip it even if you don't like it]
you are now ready to begin. enjoy!

jethan's sountrack
opening credits:
driving death valley ~ mark lanegan band

waking up:
paint the silence ~ south

falling in love:
my enemy ~ the otherside

fight song:
cowbell ~ tapes 'n tapes

breaking up:
steve & edie ~ dramarama

make-up:
wastin' my time ~ eagles of death metal

life's okay:
the hand that feeds ~ nine inch nails

mental breakdown:
princess of the queens (the lost generation) ~ my life with the thrill kill kult

driving:
good is me ~ stereolab

flashback:
no sense ~ cat power

happy dance:
like a soldier ~ johnny cash

regretting:
let the cool goddess rust away ~ clap your heads say yeah

final battle:
doors of your heart ~ english beat

death scene:
oh my golly ~ frank black

make-out scene:
insincere because i ~ the dandy warhols

ending credits:
names ~ cat power

for those of you interested in receiving a copy of my soundtrack [yes, i mean an actual cd with the songs] let me know.

be well...

orange crush

deery-lou.
i got a crush. she's in ben's class. ben told me she was asking questions about me. last night when i left school she was with her friends waiting for the elevator. i took the stairs as i normally do. as i was descending i could hear the thumping of shoes coming down behind me at a quick pace. this was followed by the sound of giggling girls. i didn't need to turn around. i knew who it was. outside i gradually did a turnback and sure enough it was her. they were picking up their pace. eventually they caught up to me just as i was turning around. she looked at me and smiled. then she said "hello" and ran to the bus. girls are funny that way.

be well…

b-complex

nap time
Originally uploaded by nightwing.

deery-lou.
every day like clockwork around noon the workers take a break. i can see them from my little balcony that serves as a home to my washer. most of the time they are shirtless and napping. on some occasions they are just sitting there smoking cigs and talking either on their cell phones or to each other. yesterday while i was on the balcony i actually busted one of them taking a piss. sure enough there he was standing in a corner or what might be a corner when they are finished taking a leak. this lead to me to think about my new apartment and to question how much piss is mixed into the foundation here. it makes you wonder.

another odd scene witnessed by bc and myself took place on sunday. we had just left the hotel and were walking down the street. in an alley like street to our right was a man in a sort of push up like position with his back way arched. there was another man standing next to him with a hose who was giving him a bath. yes, i shit you not. he was getting hosed down in the middle of the street. bc and i looked at each other in pure amazement. we both wanted to whip out our cameras but neither of us did. its these moments that make my life here so enjoyable.

be well…

broken chairs

deery-lou.
thanks to misty, every time i put on my deordorant i now think of sweat. that was the comment she made about it when i was in sf. i guess the gig is up. i will now have to replace it with something a little more aroma friendly. sigh…

this weekend i found myself venturing back into seoul. the first time since coming back from vacation. my first stop for the evening was a rooftop gathering at chen's to celebrate her birthday. saw a lot of peeps i haven't seen in awhile. it was very chill. the weather was awesome. it was nice to be outside sipping cocktails, smoking cigs, and nibbling on little weiners. i mingled about the roof for a few hours and then made my way to the twon where i was meeting jen and astrid for saturday part deux. astrid is leaving on thursday so this would be my last chance to say goodbye. its sad to see people, especially peeps you really like. we started off at queens where the drinks were two for one. definitely can't beat that. at the table next to us this k-guy sat staring at us the entire time. perhaps he was interested and wanted to say hi. although he never did. that's the strange thing about this place. the k-guys never seem to initiate conversation. from queens we headed to soho who's drink specials were still happening til midnight. score! everytime i step into that bar the decor is different. there's a new owner. it actually looks a lot better than before. feels less stuffy and more inviting. the cocktails continued to flow there throughout the night. we met "princess" who seemed to be floating about the bar sipping everyones drinks, dancing, fixing his hair, and kissing people. he did this the whole time. a couple of times he asked me if i "liked to dance". i replied simply by saying sometimes. a kabob and more drinks later we decided to dance some of the alcohol away. so off to del disco. the last time i was there it was extremely packed. however that was not the case saturday night. at point i found myself mezmorized as i stood on the dance floor staring into what can best be described as a lazer-light tunnel. it was tron-esque and a little trippy. the evening came to a close around three. when astrid reached the point of being unable to see. we had hit our peak for the evening. before heading back we stopped for egg sandwiches. what a way to end the evening.

sunday was another nice day in seoul. i lunched with the girls then made my way to insadong to meet up with bc who invited me for a swim. the rooftop swim and jacuzzi was just what i needed to feel refreshed. we sat poolside where bc read an interview with paris hilton from britans gq. poor paris. thats all i'm gonna say on that. before leaving insadong to head to hyehwa i stopped in at the gallery to pick up my art from the exhibit. bc took me to the filipino market at hyehwa. now i know where to go if i want some deordorant. they seem to have it all there from phone cards to beanie weanies. oh my!! we spent the rest of the afternoon shopping around hyehwa. however, bc is not a big fan of my "purposeless" shopping. i love checking out all those stationary type stores. buying things that i really don't need. i gave her a hard time about it but she was a good sport. i actually only bought things i needed. what was that about. must go back for the zombie keychain i saw. one is just not enough.

be well...

mess with time

deery-lou.
settling in. that's what i've been doing for the past four days. last saturday i moved into a new apartment. it was probably the quickest move i've ever done. which was a good thing too since it was extremely hot outside. jk and young both helped making the process that much faster. i'm going on year three here in korea and so far i've had three apartments. but i must confess that this one actually feels the most homey. my apartment building faces a park which is so nice. i can get a glimpse of it from my little porch. all of my appliances are brand new. yet another score. i can't tell you have nice that is. although the space seems a little smaller than my last place i somehow managed to arrange it so that i could fit a bookcase in it. i went out on sunday to buy one. the man ended up giving me a $1 discount. how nice was that. there's something to be said about a new place. it give you a new prospective on life. i wake up these days feeling happy and content. once i put the final touch to my pad i'll post some pictures. i just got a few more things to hang. i've decided to take a more simplistic approach to hanging these. there's no need to put up every single poster i accumulated over the past two years. i'll save them for when i return home. tomorrow the prodigal son will return to taekwondo. it feels like ages ago since i last stepped foot in there. here's hoping i haven't forgotten everything i ever learned.

yesterday was a holiday. it was liberation day. korea's time to celebrate its independence from japan. i spent the day at home watching sex and the city and unpacking more boxes. on monday night my school went out to dinner to welcome the new teachers. we have two new foreign teachers and one korean teacher. we went to the second floor for some chicken and porridge. it was just as good as the last time we went there. the chicken just falls right off the bone. so delicious. after we head to the german bar for beer, fruit, and snails. there was a semi-cute waiter there you had some funky hair according to korean standards. it was kind of mullet-esque. on one side he had three braids and in the back a long beaded tail. if only my camera was working. sigh… a few hours were spent there then we went next door to the norebang. the two new foreign teachers like to sing. the rest of the evening was spent singing, singing, singing. here's my set list [at least what i remember]:

1. love hurts
2. fake plastic trees
3. stairway to heaven
4. beautiful [with young]
5. zombie [misty's favorite song ever!!]

be well…

hot, hot, heat

deery-lou.
can i just say how freakin HOT it is here. now i know what hell must feel like. its been extremely difficult to readjust, especially after coming back from a chilly-cool sf. i'm starting to remember why i left florida all those years ago. there's nothing like stepping outside and getting smacked in the face with heat. hi, instanst sweat. since i've returned from vacation i've been waking up at 6am every morning. which means by 9pm i end up passing out. i haven't returned to taekwondo yet. so not looking forward to practicing in this heat. it looks like i'm going to return next thursday. they don't have class on monday and tuesday is a holiday. oh, and on top of it all i'm moving this saturday. i have mixed feeling about it even though i was the one that asked to move. the new place is slightly smaller and all the appliances are NEW so thats a major plus. the down side is moving in this heat. grin and bear it i guess. i spent most of thursday morning packing so i'm all ready to go. at least the new place is only a few blocks away. i'm close to a park, too. so thats cool. i was hoping my apartment would be either a rooftop apartment or facing the park. unfortunately there's only one apartment in the building left and it has neither option. at least its in the building i wanted to be in. i'm just going to keep a positive attitude about it. the part of moving i do like is the redecorating. thats always fun. yesterday i rearranged my classroom. i needed to have my desk under the aircon. this month starts a new schedule at our school. i'm slightly sad about this because i lost a lot of my good classes. these were the students i've been teaching since day one. now i'm gonna have to start anew. change is good. so most likely my weekend will be spent fixing up my new place and catching up on much needed sleep. i still don't quite feel like myself. perhaps i'll even get into seoul to see some peeps. i'm not sure when i'll have internet connection again so i might be gone for a few days. see ya soon.

be well…

stencil erotica

deery-lou.
while hanging around seoul with ms. bonnie conquest i couldn't help but notice her strange fascination for stencil art. so when i saw some erotic stencil art on the sidewalk in front of the lexington club i knew i had to document it just for her. this is for you bc.

slap it

lap it

wrap it

be well…

the fabulous photo adventures of jethan in sf

deery-lou.
the san francisco photos are up and ready for your enjoyment. not many sites since i'd lived there for 5 years. its mostly me and my peeps. here's a sneak peak. enjoy!

golden gate bridge through car window

d, misty, and e reunited

sf photos here

be well…

family reunion pix

deery-lou.
family reunion pix [which seem mostly to be my nieces and nephew] are uploaded. here's a sampling. enjoy!

with my sister

my nieces & nephew

fam reunion pix

be well…

sf: the final days

deery-lou.
friday, august 4
finally got motivated to leave d's apartment around 2pm. spent most of the morning watching bad tv and working on my blog. as i was heading out the door d came home unexpectedly. he left work earlier. yeah! the two of us headed down to stroll along the 'stro. a few of my old haunts were gone and there were a couple of new places like a comic book store. score! but for the most part the 'stro was pretty much the same. we stopped off at quickly, a asian inspired icey/smoothie/juice place. i got a blueberry snow [kind of like a smoothie]. then i got a chocolate fudge cookie at hot cookie. hi, delicious!! we ventured down to the mission to walk along valencia street. that too, has pretty much remained unchanged. that night we went over to pevil's who was hosting a dinner party for lord jethan. pevil's and ms. b's pad is quite sweet and very homey. on the menu was veggie patties [that would later be dubbed lesbian patties], martha's mac and cheese, and salad. it was all quite yummy. the usual suspects were in attendence: adawg, misty, d and his beau john, pevil, ms. b, and hez. misty brought along some cupcakes that were a sugar explosion. cupcakes are g.o.o.d! after dinner it was off to the eagle where i had organized a little gathering to see people. my favorite bartender no longer works there since he moved. bummer. it still felt good though to be back at a bar i spent so much time in when i lived there. it didn't take long for the coctails to start flowing. thanks misty. drink of choice: vodka tonic. of course being the "freak" magnet i am, i had a new friend for the first part of the evening. everytime i was trying to catch up with a friend he kept butting in. hi, excuse me. talking to friends here. i finally had to move to the other side of the bar to get away. i think he got the hint then. the drinks were flowing all night. it was really great to see everyone. i've got some really great friends. usually the eagle plays good indie rock, however; like the crowd that night the music was lacking. oh well! it was all about hanging with friends anyway and it didn't stop us from having fun. by 1am we decided to head over to lucky 13. there were some peeps [willo and ali] that misty wanted me to meet. i didn't get to spend much time chatting with them but them seem like cool peeps. plus it was cool to finally meet them after hearing so much about them. lucky 13 usually attracts a rocker crowd and is often not that crowded. now it looks like its become the hipster hangout for the young sf crowd. it was packed. my how things change. we had a drink then decided to bail and call it a night. we were all pretty tired. that night i had major bed spins. i forgot what that was like. eventually though i was able to drift off to a deep, deep sleep.

saturday, aug 5
saturday started off with a mixture of a hangover and jet lag that still hadn't gone away. i felt like the walking dead for most of the morning. it didn't help much that i was up super early. why was it that i've been getting up so early? its like i forgot how to sleep late. i use to be a master at that. ted and misty came to get me around noon. we were heading to fairfax, which is just over the golden gate bridge. thats where kate lives and she was hosting a bbq. over in fairfax we stopped at java hut, a drive through coffee place. once i got my ice coffee in me it was all good. the day was spent having a most fabulous cookout. kate's place is adorable. its soo her. it was great to be able to see her in her space. she seems quite happy there. and its so spacious. she one lucky gal. besides the four of us, d, john, hez, adawg, and jimmy were all there, too. we even got a surprise visit from big mama and the bunny. they use to be my neighbors when i lived in the haight. seeing the two of them was wonderful. when i first met the bunny he was a mere baby. now he's heading into the third grade. he looked so grown up with his long hair. big mama has done a excellent job raising him. there were all kinds of yummy food that day. misty and kate decided to have a lot of "sides" in honor of korea. i ate so much i thought i was going to explode. we walked in the town of fairfax and i decided to do a mini-tour of it. it was cute little town. we got back to the city around 9ish. at d's i finished packing then hit "the houston" [his couch] to get some much needed sleep. although prior to going to bed d shared with me his story of the headless grandma ghost that once haunted his apartment. of course i had a nightmare that night. d's apartment is rad. lots of nucks and crannies. i want a place like that when i return. all my friends seems to have great places.

sunday, august 5
the day of reckoning. had breakfast with misty, ted, d, and john at savory in noe valley. the food was quite good. however, i felt nervous all though breakfast and couldn't eat that much. the day you have to leave is always the hardest. i didn't want to have to say goodbye to these guys. it felt like i had just gotten there and wasn't quite ready to leave yet. adawg met up with us after breakfast then we all headed back to d's house to chill before i had to head out for the airport. kate met us there and her and i hung out on the porch for awhile talking. i wish i would've been able to spend a little more time with her, especially since she going through a rough time right now. a friend of hers got some really bad news and kate's been a big support to her. kate's such an amazing person. she's strong, a great friend, and has an amazing soul. i love her dearly. its amazing to see how much she has changed and for the better. you can really tell she's happy. goodbyes were said on the sidewalk. that was the hardest, ever. especially when it comes to saying bye to misty. it was all i could do not to cry. these guys are like my family. they know my dreams, secrets, and myself. probably even know more about me than my family does. i will definitely miss them. even more so this time. john, d, and kate took me to the airport. i was feeling quite nervous and anxious but kate has this way of making me feel calms so all was good. final goodbyes were said again and i made my way through secruity. no sooner was i though when i heard an announcement for the final boarding call for my flight. i basically sprinted all the way to the gate. after a two hour bus ride and what seemed like an hour walk in the heat i got home around 9pm. i immediately crashed. bags still packed. contacts still in. clothes still on. good times! my vacation seemed to fly by. i had a great time though. got to see family, friends, etc. see you all soon…real soon. i miss and love you all.

movies i saw on the plane [for kate]:
kinky boots
she's the man
over the hedge
the sentinel
also watched the sitcom hanna montana [kill me! kill me now!]

be well…

a family reunion & more

deery-lou.
i had to say goodbye to the cheerful fawn. her plastic wrapping was starting to fall apart exposing my money in all its nakedness.sigh…you've definitely been good to me. and now on to the real business…

i'm on my 8th day of vacation. where has the time gone. it feels like i just got here yesterday. coming back to sf has definitely been heartfelt. its such a great city and i have such great friends that its going to be hard to say goodbye on sunday. more on that later. its been a week or so since i've last posted so i figured i'd do a bit of catch up. let's go back in time. the date is july 27 and i had just arrived in atlanta after a 10 hours flight from seoul to sf ,then a 4 hour flight from sf to atlanta.

atlanta, ga
my uncle, who happens to be my dads twin, picked me up at the airport and took to their house. i hadn't seen my aunt and uncle for three years so it was nice to play catch up. my parents arrived shortly after from arkansas. i stayed up til 3 am talking to my mom and aunt. the next day my sister and her family came over. they were staying at my sister's friend house who lived about 20 minutes away. i couldn't belive how big my nieces and nephew had gotten. the twins [paige and davis] are now 3 1/2 and baby morgan is 18 months. we sat around the house talking and playing with the little ones. midafternoon we packed up and headed for the pool where we spent the rest day frockling in the sun and water. the children loved the pool. later that night some cousins stopped by after dinner. i didn't last long since jetlag was finally getting to me. i passed out around 10:30 pm. this boy was T.I.R.E.D.

saturday was our big family reunion at the pool. i got to meet cousins i didn't even know existed. we bbqed, swam, and just relalx. it was great. you often forget how nice it is to be with with family. i think my living abroad has made me appreciate the time i spend with my family now. i got to learn some interesting informaton about my family. my great-grandfather iwan duranowicz came to america in 1910. my grandfather bogdaw came in 1913 with the rest of the family. he was only 7 years old. upon arriving in america they changed their name from duranowicz to duran. they were originally from uhryniw [or uhrynow], galicia. at the time it was considered part of austria. it definitely great to learn this information. when i get back im definitley going to research it a bit more.

saturday night i met up with an old high school pal sherri. she lives about 45 minutes from my aunt and uncle. we went to downtown atlanta over to a section called east atlanta. we hit a few bars in that hood doing a vodka tonic tour. 3 bars, 3 different tastes, and 3 different prices. the most expensive drink happened to be the worst tasting one. we opted to go back to the first br which had the best best vts. you know that there would be such a difference. they were having scary-oake there so we found a place to sit upstairs and made fun of the talent. i'm telling you some of the song choices were B.A.D.

on sunday the family gathered again at my aunt and uncles. the day was hanging around sitting pizza, etc. i helped my nephew and cousin build a linkcoin log house. it lasted a whole 30 seconds before my nephew decided to play godzilla and destroyed the whole the thing. hat night my sister and i went out for some one on one time. we went to the 3 dollar cafe for dinner and beers. it gret to be able some time with her. its hard when you're only back for a short period of time. parts of you feel guilty for not getting alot of time together but thats life. i'm just happy we got to spend some time together. i think we both really needed that. i will say this though. my sister is doing an excellent job raising her children. i'm so proud of her. her children are absolutely fantastic and adorable. and i'm not just saying this because i'm their uncle. well maybe i'm a little biased but i can be. on monday everyone started to head out. first my sister and her family left for florida. then my parents heading back to arkansas. lastly, i was taken to the airport to head off to san francisco. it was a great 5 days. there's even talk about having another get together next year. we'll see…

san francisco, ca
i arrived in sf shortly after midnight. my whole time schedule by this point is completely wacked. it doesn't help much that i've kept my watch set on korean time. thats enough to make one go crazy but at least my ability to do math is getting better. misty, derek, pevil, and ted were all there to greet me. what a great welcoming. trying to leave the airport turned into a seinfeild moment. we couldn't find misty's car. we end up in garage g at the international parking then realized we needed to be in domestic parking. we tried to get on the red train to parking but it was closed. we treked over to the blue drive where we waited and waited and waited. no sooner were we on the escalator heading out when a train was approaching. we quickly ran down the escalator that was going up and jumped onto the train. it was liek the gods were against us. for awhile i thought i might be spending my vacation in the actual airport. alas we made out and before i knew it i was in misty's apartment gettting reacquainted with the kitty i left behind. i was so happy to see my little princess. she looked healthy and happy which made me feel good. its always hard leaving behind friends, pets, family, etc. i had a hard time leaving my cat behind but i knew she'd be taking care of and she is.

on tuesday morning kate, misty, and i grabbed some lunch in misty's hood. i forget where we went but it was quite yummy. misty lives on clement street which is like a "mini" chinatown. so before we actually had lunch we stopped for some pork buns. after lunch we went to target so that i could stock up on supplies. then it was dinner at happy garden for some delicious chinese food. later that night i met my friend adwag for some drinks at the pilsner. i love adawg. she makes me laugh. we chilled there for quite a bit then i jumped in a cab and headed back to misty's. wednesday was filled with more errands. before heading the my storage unit, mist and i stopped in at taqueria el buen sabor on 18th and valencia for ground beef burritos. oh how i missed thee. i use to go here on a regular basis. let me tell you its still out of this freakin world delicious. with full bellies we headed to the storage unit to take care of business then it was off to haight street. we spent most of our time in giant robot. hi! t-shirts and toys! what more could a boy want. then we popped into kidrobot for more toys. what a perfect day. around 4 pm misty dropped me off at the bart station. i was heading to concord to see my friend scott and his twin boys. what cuties they are. they about 6 months old and i just wanted to squeeze their little chubby checks. i was lucky enough to have one of them spit up on me. the must have liked me. i got to expereince being a parent for the evening by bathing one of the boys. i couldn't believe how well behaved these boys were. they harldy cried at all and slept through the night. kudos to scott and heather for being fab parents. once the boys were in bed scott and i sat on his deck eating pizza and drinking cocktails. my friends are amazing. it was great seeing scott, especially now as a dad. i'm so happy for the both of them and wish them all the best. i have a feeling their uncle e with spoil those two boys.

i took the bart from concord into sf earlier on thursday morning. i got to the city by 9 am. this was by the far the earliest i had been up and about. mmisty met up with me around 10:30 am or so and the two of us spent the day shopping. we were out of control. everytime i turned around we were both buying something. it was just like the good old days. we had lunch at betty boop diner. they actually had a betty boop character outside waving to people. from there we went to chinatown and then back to misty's pad. around 6ish we met up with pevil and ms. b at the zeitquiest for vodka tonic pints. yes, i said pints. i spent a birthday there once getting completely ripped on vt pints. its bad. after two pints we picked up d and made our way to rayko photo center. my friend rebecca was part of an exhibit being held there called three cubed in sf. she's currently working on a series of photos of independent movie theaters in sf called left in the dark. the work was amazing. so different from her stuff in the past. i was quite impressed with it and with her. after browsing the gallery and having some photos made in a old time black and white photo booth we all headed to the lexington club to end the evening. i use to visit the lex alot with my co-workers when i worked at j.a.b. it was good to see that some things never change: the mission lesbians were still mission lesbians. got to love it.

its now friday. today i got a dinner at pevils then its off to the eagle where i told people to meet me. should be some good times tonight. i'll let you know how it goes…

to be continued…

be well.

p.s. pictures will be coming soon!