I took this picture yesterday of me with two of my students. The guy in the middle, Alex, is one of my presentation partners next week. He's hilarious. He always jokes around with saying he loves me and he gives me high fives in class... gotta love Korean students!!!Friday, November 30, 2007
Highlights of my Day... Friday, November 30
1. Had my dance students in tears (good tears) as I presented to them the video I made last week of their classmate... the begging cell phone user. It was so funny. The poor girl sat there sporting one beat red face but she was laughing hysterically and so it was soooo funny.
2. My students have presentations next week, all 292 students, some how I got caught being the partner for many of them. I think I've got about 10 presentations to participate in... oh gosh! Now one of the rules for their presentations is that it must be memorized. I'm going to try hard to memorize it but I doubt I'll be able to do it considering the grammar errors in the scripts they've given me so far... talk about pressure though.
3. Headed off to boxing. Junior Mint is still nursing his injured knee and so I did my own training routine solo today. He kept on shouting things at me from the side lines and so regardless of the fact that he didn't work hands on with me, he definitely drilled me.
4. After a long day of training and mind boggling Konglish, which turned out to be more Korean than English, I was so looking forward to sitting down with Q for a good satisfying meal at Mainz. I wanted nothing more than to kick up my heels with my guy by my side and just relax.... no such luck.
5. I got all dolled for nothing cause when I met up with Q, he surprised me by telling me we're going to this one restaurant. At first I thought, oh how sweet, he's taking me back to where we had our first date... nope. Despite it being the place we did in fact have our first date, the reason why we went there was cause his two friends were there. Now it's one thing that we meet up with his friends, it's another thing when he doesn't mention it and I don't know the dudes. I wasn't impressed.
6. So there I was, wanting to relax but, for starters I couldn't cause of having to sit on the floor isn't exactly comfortable in a skirt, and I was being drilled a million questions in quite possibly the fastest Korean I've ever heard in my life. No sooner did his one friend open his mouth to ask something but out flew like a million and one questions. My ears were trying to catch the words as they jetted by my ears and myy brain was trying to catch up with it all but he then he'd throw out another question... ahhh... STOP!!! He kept on asking Q if I spoke Korean and Q said yes. I do speak Korean but it isn't exactly easy, nor is it relaxing.. nor is it what I want to do after a long week of marking and studying. I felt like I was back in school, being drilled by my students.
7. Honestly, I really don't like meeting new people. I like hanging with my own crew. I like not having to explain myself and who I am. My crew knows me and I'm able to relax. More importantly though, I don't like meeting new people for the very fact that it ends up being the same conversation. I've met my share of Koreans in Korea and I'm getting really sick of the "What's your name, where are you from.." conversation. I've been having this SAME conversation for the past three years and it got old a long time ago. Why have that conversation when in reality, probably in about a week, we're going to forget all about this conversation and may never meet again. It's a waste of my time. If I never meet another person in my life, that's cool with me. God has blessed me with enough people and I much rather focus on these relations than making new ones.
8. I somehow convinced myself to stick around for about 30 minutes before I turned to Q and said I had to go home. I made up some lame excuse about having to have homework and then he walked me home. He kept on asking me if I was ok and, like always, my response is "Even when I'm not ok, I'm ok." .. and it's true. I was so tempted to turn to him and just totally spill my beans, as much and as fast as I could, just to confuse him. Maybe then he'd understand what I felt like with his buddies talking to me. But I didn't. Instead, I went home and poured my beans to Mi Nam. I thought about who I could call but honestly, no name came to my mind.. that's rough. I'm not close enough with my coworkers to talk to them about sensitive issues, obviously my boyfriend doesn't understand, and the fact that all my friends here are Korean poses language problems and so viola... Mi Nam.
9. Q called me like crazy but I didn't pick up. I didn't know what to say. I just wanted to be left alone. I'm so done with explaining who I am and what I do. I just want to be understood. Maybe he will never understand me.
10. Kim Tae (also called "Tytus") was on msn and so I decided to message him. It was kind of ironic asking for relationship advice from him but, whatever. He's a friend. No sooner had we started talking and I had calmed down, but then he asked me, "What's the difference between 'it' and 'there'?" ... and with that, I turned off the computer. I was so done with Friday. Up until 6pm, my day was awesome. It was only 7:30pm but already my evening was killed. I didn't know if it could possibly get worse but I didn't want to risk it and so at 7:30pm I went to sleep. I turned the lights off, the music off, locked the door, turned my phone off, and curled up with Mi Nam on the couch.
QUESTION OF THE DAY...
Are we ever really understood?
QUOTE OF THE DAY...
Let your loss be your lesson.
-- Song title by Robert Plant
2. My students have presentations next week, all 292 students, some how I got caught being the partner for many of them. I think I've got about 10 presentations to participate in... oh gosh! Now one of the rules for their presentations is that it must be memorized. I'm going to try hard to memorize it but I doubt I'll be able to do it considering the grammar errors in the scripts they've given me so far... talk about pressure though.
3. Headed off to boxing. Junior Mint is still nursing his injured knee and so I did my own training routine solo today. He kept on shouting things at me from the side lines and so regardless of the fact that he didn't work hands on with me, he definitely drilled me.
4. After a long day of training and mind boggling Konglish, which turned out to be more Korean than English, I was so looking forward to sitting down with Q for a good satisfying meal at Mainz. I wanted nothing more than to kick up my heels with my guy by my side and just relax.... no such luck.
5. I got all dolled for nothing cause when I met up with Q, he surprised me by telling me we're going to this one restaurant. At first I thought, oh how sweet, he's taking me back to where we had our first date... nope. Despite it being the place we did in fact have our first date, the reason why we went there was cause his two friends were there. Now it's one thing that we meet up with his friends, it's another thing when he doesn't mention it and I don't know the dudes. I wasn't impressed.
6. So there I was, wanting to relax but, for starters I couldn't cause of having to sit on the floor isn't exactly comfortable in a skirt, and I was being drilled a million questions in quite possibly the fastest Korean I've ever heard in my life. No sooner did his one friend open his mouth to ask something but out flew like a million and one questions. My ears were trying to catch the words as they jetted by my ears and myy brain was trying to catch up with it all but he then he'd throw out another question... ahhh... STOP!!! He kept on asking Q if I spoke Korean and Q said yes. I do speak Korean but it isn't exactly easy, nor is it relaxing.. nor is it what I want to do after a long week of marking and studying. I felt like I was back in school, being drilled by my students.
7. Honestly, I really don't like meeting new people. I like hanging with my own crew. I like not having to explain myself and who I am. My crew knows me and I'm able to relax. More importantly though, I don't like meeting new people for the very fact that it ends up being the same conversation. I've met my share of Koreans in Korea and I'm getting really sick of the "What's your name, where are you from.." conversation. I've been having this SAME conversation for the past three years and it got old a long time ago. Why have that conversation when in reality, probably in about a week, we're going to forget all about this conversation and may never meet again. It's a waste of my time. If I never meet another person in my life, that's cool with me. God has blessed me with enough people and I much rather focus on these relations than making new ones.
8. I somehow convinced myself to stick around for about 30 minutes before I turned to Q and said I had to go home. I made up some lame excuse about having to have homework and then he walked me home. He kept on asking me if I was ok and, like always, my response is "Even when I'm not ok, I'm ok." .. and it's true. I was so tempted to turn to him and just totally spill my beans, as much and as fast as I could, just to confuse him. Maybe then he'd understand what I felt like with his buddies talking to me. But I didn't. Instead, I went home and poured my beans to Mi Nam. I thought about who I could call but honestly, no name came to my mind.. that's rough. I'm not close enough with my coworkers to talk to them about sensitive issues, obviously my boyfriend doesn't understand, and the fact that all my friends here are Korean poses language problems and so viola... Mi Nam.
9. Q called me like crazy but I didn't pick up. I didn't know what to say. I just wanted to be left alone. I'm so done with explaining who I am and what I do. I just want to be understood. Maybe he will never understand me.
10. Kim Tae (also called "Tytus") was on msn and so I decided to message him. It was kind of ironic asking for relationship advice from him but, whatever. He's a friend. No sooner had we started talking and I had calmed down, but then he asked me, "What's the difference between 'it' and 'there'?" ... and with that, I turned off the computer. I was so done with Friday. Up until 6pm, my day was awesome. It was only 7:30pm but already my evening was killed. I didn't know if it could possibly get worse but I didn't want to risk it and so at 7:30pm I went to sleep. I turned the lights off, the music off, locked the door, turned my phone off, and curled up with Mi Nam on the couch.
QUESTION OF THE DAY...
Are we ever really understood?
QUOTE OF THE DAY...
Let your loss be your lesson.
-- Song title by Robert Plant
Thursday, November 29, 2007
Highlights of my Day... Thursday, November 29
1. Well, it's official. Junior Mint knows my secret... he knows I've got a boyfriend. How it all came about today was he kept on asking me about why I went to Daejon this past weekend. He sensed I was with Q and so finally I told him. He thought it was a joke at first but then his jaw hit the floor... hehehe. Wow, you start dating a Korean and already friends start asking you if you're going to get married. Junior Mint was no different. That was the first question out of his mouth.
2. Later on, much later on, when Q went to the boxing club, Junior Mint drilled him with a million and one questions and blurted out the news of us being a couple for all to hear.. oh gosh! Black Skinny apparently was overly fascinated and gave Q an applause. Milk Dud heard the news but didn't say anything... interesting.
3. Junior Mint had injured himself on Saturday while playing soccer with the boys. He had twisted his knee and so he's been restricted to the couch at the club and hoping around. But, with Black Skinny's fight coming up and me eagerly (along with others from my team), wanting to continue going strong with training, Junior Mint's injury has us all stressed. He can't do pad work with me and so I'm feeling a bit stressed over his injury. I really want him to get better soon and so today I went to the pharmacy today to pick up some "goodies"... hehehe.
4. After school today, I jumped in a cab and headed off to Songtan. With Yanky leaving tomorrow, I figured it was the least I could do... say goodbye. I showed up, turned around, and there he was. It felt so weird to be back in Songtan after so many months of avoiding this place. I always feel a certain level of uncomfort when here but tonight it felt different. When Yanky leaves, I'll really have no reason why to visit this place anymore. Songtan will no longer be what it once was to me and so, I felt sad.
5. We headed off to our usual restaurant, Puffin, and I ate my usual meal, chicken. After dinner, we walked around for a bit and then headed to this particular Jazz bar where we chatted more. Oddly enough, we talked a bit about Q and that was kind of strange, strange considering what once went down between Yanky and I. We talked about what he plans on doing after he's finished with the military and what I plan on doing... of which I have no answer. Yanky has about 8 months left of the military life and then he's off to buy a house and get a regular 9-5er job. He thinks I'll never leave Korea... maybe he's right. I think my fear of struggling to readjust myself to Canada is what has kept me here for so long. I'm just so use to Korea and, despite what difficulties or obstacles I've had to endure here, at least here I expect a certain level of uncomfort. But going back to Canada, wow... nothing is stranger than feeling like a foreigner in your own country!!! Been there, done that, don't really care to do it again. What would I do in Canada?
6. Hooked up with some of his buddies at some random bar where the manager was bombarding his patrons with oh-so-good food. Yanky and I didn't eat any but dang, we should have eaten there instead of Puffin! Buddy-boy was cooking up a storm!
7. When I went to leave, Yanky walked me to my taxi and hugged me. I asked for an extra hug and then we said goodbye. He asked me if I'll miss him, I will but I don't know if he'll miss me. When he reaches America, he'll have so much to do, so many people to see. I'm sure the last thing on his mind is some Polish girl. Regardless, I felt really bad for leaving. It was his last night in Korea and there I was, leaving him so that I could meet up with another guy. Sure, the other guy was my boyfriend Q but still. I should had stayed longer.
8. Surprisingly enough, or not so surprisingly, I got emotional in the taxi ride to the subway. I ended up paying the taxi driver extra money so that he could do a few laps while I fixed my make-up in the back of the car.
9. I arrived in Cheonan feeling so confused and sad about the evening's events. I didn't think that Yanky leaving would bother me much but it did.
10. Q and I had promised to go to the movies tonight and so I went to the Multiplex to meet up with Q. He was all guy-smiley as usual and so that helped to cheer me up. We ended up watching the movie "The Hitman" in which there was a seductive nude scene. I always feel so uncomfortable watching such scenes, especially when I'm sitting beside some guy I'm dating. I always feel some what obligated to say something, a joke, a comment, or what not, and so I turned to Q and covered his eyes. I had to laugh. Apparently the girl beside me was doing the very same thing to her boyfriend, covering his eyes.... hehehe.
QUESTION OF THE DAY...
Where is life taking me?
QUOTE OF THE DAY...
Men are not prisoners of fate, but only prisoners of their own minds.
-- Franklin D. Roosevelt
2. Later on, much later on, when Q went to the boxing club, Junior Mint drilled him with a million and one questions and blurted out the news of us being a couple for all to hear.. oh gosh! Black Skinny apparently was overly fascinated and gave Q an applause. Milk Dud heard the news but didn't say anything... interesting.
3. Junior Mint had injured himself on Saturday while playing soccer with the boys. He had twisted his knee and so he's been restricted to the couch at the club and hoping around. But, with Black Skinny's fight coming up and me eagerly (along with others from my team), wanting to continue going strong with training, Junior Mint's injury has us all stressed. He can't do pad work with me and so I'm feeling a bit stressed over his injury. I really want him to get better soon and so today I went to the pharmacy today to pick up some "goodies"... hehehe.
4. After school today, I jumped in a cab and headed off to Songtan. With Yanky leaving tomorrow, I figured it was the least I could do... say goodbye. I showed up, turned around, and there he was. It felt so weird to be back in Songtan after so many months of avoiding this place. I always feel a certain level of uncomfort when here but tonight it felt different. When Yanky leaves, I'll really have no reason why to visit this place anymore. Songtan will no longer be what it once was to me and so, I felt sad.
5. We headed off to our usual restaurant, Puffin, and I ate my usual meal, chicken. After dinner, we walked around for a bit and then headed to this particular Jazz bar where we chatted more. Oddly enough, we talked a bit about Q and that was kind of strange, strange considering what once went down between Yanky and I. We talked about what he plans on doing after he's finished with the military and what I plan on doing... of which I have no answer. Yanky has about 8 months left of the military life and then he's off to buy a house and get a regular 9-5er job. He thinks I'll never leave Korea... maybe he's right. I think my fear of struggling to readjust myself to Canada is what has kept me here for so long. I'm just so use to Korea and, despite what difficulties or obstacles I've had to endure here, at least here I expect a certain level of uncomfort. But going back to Canada, wow... nothing is stranger than feeling like a foreigner in your own country!!! Been there, done that, don't really care to do it again. What would I do in Canada?
6. Hooked up with some of his buddies at some random bar where the manager was bombarding his patrons with oh-so-good food. Yanky and I didn't eat any but dang, we should have eaten there instead of Puffin! Buddy-boy was cooking up a storm!
7. When I went to leave, Yanky walked me to my taxi and hugged me. I asked for an extra hug and then we said goodbye. He asked me if I'll miss him, I will but I don't know if he'll miss me. When he reaches America, he'll have so much to do, so many people to see. I'm sure the last thing on his mind is some Polish girl. Regardless, I felt really bad for leaving. It was his last night in Korea and there I was, leaving him so that I could meet up with another guy. Sure, the other guy was my boyfriend Q but still. I should had stayed longer.
8. Surprisingly enough, or not so surprisingly, I got emotional in the taxi ride to the subway. I ended up paying the taxi driver extra money so that he could do a few laps while I fixed my make-up in the back of the car.
9. I arrived in Cheonan feeling so confused and sad about the evening's events. I didn't think that Yanky leaving would bother me much but it did.
10. Q and I had promised to go to the movies tonight and so I went to the Multiplex to meet up with Q. He was all guy-smiley as usual and so that helped to cheer me up. We ended up watching the movie "The Hitman" in which there was a seductive nude scene. I always feel so uncomfortable watching such scenes, especially when I'm sitting beside some guy I'm dating. I always feel some what obligated to say something, a joke, a comment, or what not, and so I turned to Q and covered his eyes. I had to laugh. Apparently the girl beside me was doing the very same thing to her boyfriend, covering his eyes.... hehehe.
QUESTION OF THE DAY...
Where is life taking me?
QUOTE OF THE DAY...
Men are not prisoners of fate, but only prisoners of their own minds.
-- Franklin D. Roosevelt
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Highlights of my Day... Wednesday, November 28
1. Had no Korean class today and so I got to sleep in and it felt great! I got to finally catch up on the sleep my body was greatly craving.
2. Took Mi Nam to the vet cause of yesterday's soondaboo incident. He got a clean bill of health, however, the vet did mention that Mi Nam has gotten remarkably bigger since his last visit... hehehe. The vet suggested putting Mi Nam on a diet but I reassured the vet, his diet is VERY healthy! Let's see, hmmm... besides his regular dog food, he shares my chicken, eats the yokes from my eggs, loves tofu, finishes up my tuna, and he especially loves eating tomatoes cause he can play with them before wolfing them down. I guess I really shouldn't give him so many egg yokes though.
3. Mi Nam hates the vet, seriously... with a passion. I don't know whether it's cause of the freakish little devil-dog with the semi-removed voice box, or the fact that my vet seems to have this weird habit of "fondling" my dog, but what ever it is, Mi Nam does not enjoy going there and, like most times, he ends up peeing. Today I lucked out and so he peed on the vet this time as supposed to me, like last time.
4. Well, like always, days off really don't mean days off. Someone should call it like it really is, "Days away from work", cause apparently my Wednesday (which is supposed to my be day off) is my hardest work day. Today I spent a good chunk of my time marking student homework... again. Q laughs at me every time I tell him my plans are marking. He says I work too much... maybe. I keep on telling myself though, only X number of weeks left. I love my job, it's the marking I can't stand.
5. No pain, no gain... or so I keep on telling myself. I figure that working super hard like a slave now will lessen the stress later when it comes to handing in marks and it'll make my vacation all that more sweeter. After all, you gotta know the sour to know the sweet... oh wait, isn't it the other way?! ...hmm.
6. Lately I've noticed a most peculiar turn of events with regards to my homepage and YouTube page. My readers/viewers are messaging less but are emailing me a lot more... wow, thanks everyone! Every day I'm totally amused and intrigued by some of the messages I get. Whether it's fellow YouTubers asking me to make videos of me ripping my shirt like the Hulk, or homepage readers asking me for advice, it's been very "interesting".... hehehe.
7. Today I got my most interesting email with regards to my YouTube. The letter was in regards to my skipping in my "Stupid Girls" video by Pink. Apparently this particular viewer wants me to make a skipping video. I thought it was quite funny but he was totally serious. He's even willing to pay me... oh gosh. I reviewed the song he attached to his email and am considering. Mind ya, I'll do it for free. Something about accepting money like this that just feels strange.
8. Training is back on... and I'm loving it. Junior Mint has stepped it up a notch and so training today was really hard. With the pressure for me to lose weight increasing with every day, Junior Mint took my training to a whole new level today. My training gear now includes wearing not only the usual training gear but also an extra long-sleeve top, sweater, a winter beenie (hat), and weight straps around my ankles. I'm sure in some countries this would be considered a kind of torture... hehehe, just joking.
9. My training routine also got spiced up today with the addition of extra rounds and heavy bag work but with no gloves on... ouch! So, my training session now takes a good solid hour and 20 minutes. Not only does it leave me totally dripping in sweat and exhausted, but it leaves me with beating red knuckles.... and I love it!!!
10. Later in the evening, I hit the weights at Hongik for a back routine. By the time 11pm came around, I was so exhausted and my body didn't want to do anything else but crash on the floor with Mi Nam, so, that's exactly what I did.
QUESTION OF THE DAY...
What's your vice?
QUOTE OF THE DAY...
One's destination is never a place but rather a new way of looking at things.
-- Henry Miller
2. Took Mi Nam to the vet cause of yesterday's soondaboo incident. He got a clean bill of health, however, the vet did mention that Mi Nam has gotten remarkably bigger since his last visit... hehehe. The vet suggested putting Mi Nam on a diet but I reassured the vet, his diet is VERY healthy! Let's see, hmmm... besides his regular dog food, he shares my chicken, eats the yokes from my eggs, loves tofu, finishes up my tuna, and he especially loves eating tomatoes cause he can play with them before wolfing them down. I guess I really shouldn't give him so many egg yokes though.
3. Mi Nam hates the vet, seriously... with a passion. I don't know whether it's cause of the freakish little devil-dog with the semi-removed voice box, or the fact that my vet seems to have this weird habit of "fondling" my dog, but what ever it is, Mi Nam does not enjoy going there and, like most times, he ends up peeing. Today I lucked out and so he peed on the vet this time as supposed to me, like last time.
4. Well, like always, days off really don't mean days off. Someone should call it like it really is, "Days away from work", cause apparently my Wednesday (which is supposed to my be day off) is my hardest work day. Today I spent a good chunk of my time marking student homework... again. Q laughs at me every time I tell him my plans are marking. He says I work too much... maybe. I keep on telling myself though, only X number of weeks left. I love my job, it's the marking I can't stand.
5. No pain, no gain... or so I keep on telling myself. I figure that working super hard like a slave now will lessen the stress later when it comes to handing in marks and it'll make my vacation all that more sweeter. After all, you gotta know the sour to know the sweet... oh wait, isn't it the other way?! ...hmm.
6. Lately I've noticed a most peculiar turn of events with regards to my homepage and YouTube page. My readers/viewers are messaging less but are emailing me a lot more... wow, thanks everyone! Every day I'm totally amused and intrigued by some of the messages I get. Whether it's fellow YouTubers asking me to make videos of me ripping my shirt like the Hulk, or homepage readers asking me for advice, it's been very "interesting".... hehehe.
7. Today I got my most interesting email with regards to my YouTube. The letter was in regards to my skipping in my "Stupid Girls" video by Pink. Apparently this particular viewer wants me to make a skipping video. I thought it was quite funny but he was totally serious. He's even willing to pay me... oh gosh. I reviewed the song he attached to his email and am considering. Mind ya, I'll do it for free. Something about accepting money like this that just feels strange.
8. Training is back on... and I'm loving it. Junior Mint has stepped it up a notch and so training today was really hard. With the pressure for me to lose weight increasing with every day, Junior Mint took my training to a whole new level today. My training gear now includes wearing not only the usual training gear but also an extra long-sleeve top, sweater, a winter beenie (hat), and weight straps around my ankles. I'm sure in some countries this would be considered a kind of torture... hehehe, just joking.
9. My training routine also got spiced up today with the addition of extra rounds and heavy bag work but with no gloves on... ouch! So, my training session now takes a good solid hour and 20 minutes. Not only does it leave me totally dripping in sweat and exhausted, but it leaves me with beating red knuckles.... and I love it!!!
10. Later in the evening, I hit the weights at Hongik for a back routine. By the time 11pm came around, I was so exhausted and my body didn't want to do anything else but crash on the floor with Mi Nam, so, that's exactly what I did.
QUESTION OF THE DAY...
What's your vice?
QUOTE OF THE DAY...
One's destination is never a place but rather a new way of looking at things.
-- Henry Miller
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Highlights of my Day... Tuesday, November 27
1. Kicked my awesome peer editing lesson to the curb today when only 6 out of my 32 students brought their presentation writing to class. I love it how I totally go out of my way to email my students EVERY Saturday and even go so far as to get key parts translated for them.
2. None the less, I was able to focus on a different part of my lesson and so it was still a really productive class. Next week all my students have presentations and so today I thought we'd practice a short presentation piece I wrote up as an example. It was titled, "Man of my Dreams".
3. Knowing full well that the students were very shy and didn't want to present in front of the class, I thought it fair to randomly pick numbers and then who ever's name matched with that number off the attendance sheet had to come up and present. I ended up randomly picking guys and so it was so hilarious.
4. The first group didn't change the dialogue and so we had a kind of "coming-out-of-the-closet" scene, where as the second group, they tried to change the gender of the person being talked about (Hyun Bin, a guy) but failed miserably, so their character turned out to be a transsexual. The class was laughing so loud and I was curled up at the back of the room, in tears. Soooo funny!!!
5. On account of being totally bogged down with marking and prep work for the upcoming exam period, I skipped out on training, again, and it's taking it's toll. I love training for various reasons beyond just the satisfaction of knowing I'm pushing my body to its' limits. Training is a kind of escape for me. A means of leaving all the stress behind and just focusing on what I'm doing at that very moment, exercising.
6. I might have just discovered a really, really awesome means of making both Mi Nam and myself happy; I'm brilliant and why I didn't think of this before is beyond me. My discovery was the fact that no one goes up on the roof top of my building... the roof top that's massive. And so, today before I went to work, I took Mi Nam up there. I've been taking him up there a lot lately. Sometimes at night I go up there and on a couple of occasions, I've seen dudes up there. But, during the day, no one is up there.
7. Put out a bowl of water, his bone and his beloved sweater, and then I left him there for the day. Cause of the walls on the sides of the roof top, he's got enough shade if it the sun is too hot. When I finally came home from school, Mi Nam had exhausted himself. I'm sure he must have loved running around all day cause he hadn't even touched his bone.
8. Tried to get Mi Nam to go for a late night jog... no such luck. The boy was too pooped to party and by 7pm, he was all snuggled in his little bed and out for the rest of the night... hehehe.
9. Spent my evening studying Korean and marking... no new story there :(
10. For my last meal of the day, I decided to treat myself to soondaboo from Kimbab Chunkuk. Mi Nam was fast asleep but when I arrived back home with food in hand, he was apparently on his second wind... for about 20 minutes that is. I opened up the bag of soondaboo and as I went to go pour it into my bowl, Mi Nam jumped up... oh gosh! Soondaboo went everywhere... and I mean EVERYWHERE! Mind ya, most of it landed on Mi Nam. Pour Mi Nam's beautiful white fur was now splattered with chunks of tofu, veggies and was all orange from the soup. Had the soup been cool, I would have grabbed my camera to snap a shot, but, it was hot soondaboo. Thankfully it had chilled a bit before the incident but still. I freaked. Thinking that poor Mi Nam's skin would be burned, I grabbed his soup-drenched body and tossed him in the shower. The whole ordeal was quite a lot for him to handle and so my poor little Mi Nam peed in the shower. I checked over his body and there seems to be no burns or what not but I'll watch him and decide if I should take him to the vent tomorrow.
QUESTION OF THE DAY...
How many more days of busy-busy-busy do I have?
QUOTE OF THE DAY...
Trouble is part of your life, and if you don't share it, you don't give the person who loves you a chance to love you enough.
-- Dinah Shore
2. None the less, I was able to focus on a different part of my lesson and so it was still a really productive class. Next week all my students have presentations and so today I thought we'd practice a short presentation piece I wrote up as an example. It was titled, "Man of my Dreams".
A: What’s up Michelle? You look so happy today!
B: Yes, I am! I just met the man of my dreams!
A: Oh my gosh!!!
B: This is so exciting! I’m in love!
A: Wow! Who is the lucky man?
B: No, no, no. I am the lucky woman! I met him today at a concert. All the girls were looking at him but he came and talked to me.
A: So, tell me, who’s man you are in love with? Please tell me!
B: It’s Hyun Bin.
3. Knowing full well that the students were very shy and didn't want to present in front of the class, I thought it fair to randomly pick numbers and then who ever's name matched with that number off the attendance sheet had to come up and present. I ended up randomly picking guys and so it was so hilarious.
4. The first group didn't change the dialogue and so we had a kind of "coming-out-of-the-closet" scene, where as the second group, they tried to change the gender of the person being talked about (Hyun Bin, a guy) but failed miserably, so their character turned out to be a transsexual. The class was laughing so loud and I was curled up at the back of the room, in tears. Soooo funny!!!
5. On account of being totally bogged down with marking and prep work for the upcoming exam period, I skipped out on training, again, and it's taking it's toll. I love training for various reasons beyond just the satisfaction of knowing I'm pushing my body to its' limits. Training is a kind of escape for me. A means of leaving all the stress behind and just focusing on what I'm doing at that very moment, exercising.
6. I might have just discovered a really, really awesome means of making both Mi Nam and myself happy; I'm brilliant and why I didn't think of this before is beyond me. My discovery was the fact that no one goes up on the roof top of my building... the roof top that's massive. And so, today before I went to work, I took Mi Nam up there. I've been taking him up there a lot lately. Sometimes at night I go up there and on a couple of occasions, I've seen dudes up there. But, during the day, no one is up there.
7. Put out a bowl of water, his bone and his beloved sweater, and then I left him there for the day. Cause of the walls on the sides of the roof top, he's got enough shade if it the sun is too hot. When I finally came home from school, Mi Nam had exhausted himself. I'm sure he must have loved running around all day cause he hadn't even touched his bone.
8. Tried to get Mi Nam to go for a late night jog... no such luck. The boy was too pooped to party and by 7pm, he was all snuggled in his little bed and out for the rest of the night... hehehe.
9. Spent my evening studying Korean and marking... no new story there :(
10. For my last meal of the day, I decided to treat myself to soondaboo from Kimbab Chunkuk. Mi Nam was fast asleep but when I arrived back home with food in hand, he was apparently on his second wind... for about 20 minutes that is. I opened up the bag of soondaboo and as I went to go pour it into my bowl, Mi Nam jumped up... oh gosh! Soondaboo went everywhere... and I mean EVERYWHERE! Mind ya, most of it landed on Mi Nam. Pour Mi Nam's beautiful white fur was now splattered with chunks of tofu, veggies and was all orange from the soup. Had the soup been cool, I would have grabbed my camera to snap a shot, but, it was hot soondaboo. Thankfully it had chilled a bit before the incident but still. I freaked. Thinking that poor Mi Nam's skin would be burned, I grabbed his soup-drenched body and tossed him in the shower. The whole ordeal was quite a lot for him to handle and so my poor little Mi Nam peed in the shower. I checked over his body and there seems to be no burns or what not but I'll watch him and decide if I should take him to the vent tomorrow.
QUESTION OF THE DAY...
How many more days of busy-busy-busy do I have?
QUOTE OF THE DAY...
Trouble is part of your life, and if you don't share it, you don't give the person who loves you a chance to love you enough.
-- Dinah Shore
Monday, November 26, 2007
Highlights of my Day... Monday, November 26
1. About a week or so, my mom emailed me to remind me about my little niece's birthday that was back in November. Now, it's not that I forgot her birthday, I remembered it but I just was so distracted with work and training. Honestly though, lately, thinking about Canada kind of makes me depressed. I don't know whether it's cause it's the holiday season coming up or what but I've been trying really hard to forget Canada. I think about my family a lot but I don't think of them as being in Canada. I don't know how to really explain it. Q always asks me about my family, especially my brothers. I like talking about my family, I do love them, as weird as they may be at times... hehehe. But thinking about Canada, no thanks. I left my life in Canada for various reasons. I am not that same person and so I don't want to think about my first life. I made too many stupid mistakes, now is my second chance to better myself. A chance to start fresh.
2. I'm a rotten, rotten aunt... yup, I am. Turns out my niece is 2, not 1. Wow, where did the time fly. Realizing that she's 2 really hit me funny. I am becoming the very relative I despised growing up. You know, the one who never remembered things about you, like your age or your name. "No, Auntie... I graduated high school years ago!"... "I'm Amy, not Ashley." I figure I'll slack off in the "bad relative group" for the rest of the year and then I'll put my family on my New Year's resolution list.
3. Every week I email all 292 students of mine. I email them lecture notes, a quick hello note and homework answers every Saturday. This past week I had gone out of my way to get my email translated into Korean so that they'd be extra prepared for class. I had asked them to bring in their presentation writing so that we could peer edit. Only 15 out of my 98 students today brought it in. There went that activity... ahhhhh!!!
4. I laugh at the fact that all my students know I'm on a diet... hehehe. They know I've been working really hard to become a flyweight boxer. Today some of my students thought it funny to test my self control by tempting me with goodies. Throughout my lesson, every once and a while when I turned to write something on the white board, a random student would run up and put a treat on my desk. They did this about 6 times and each time, I honestly didn't hear the student sneaking up. It was so funny. The class was in tears, giggling as they all watched their classmates tempt me... hehehe. By the end of the class I had 3 Snicker bars, a Twix bar, and 2 packs of cookies.
5. Despite my weakness for Snickers, I fought off temptation and, as a result, I was a huge hit with my next class. I handed out the oh so tempting treats to those who brought in their presentation writing.
6. No matter how much work and marking I have, there's no way I'd ever say I don't like my job... thanks to my students. I'm always amazed at how awesome they are. Today when we were reviewing last week's lesson, they got all giggly when I popped up a picture of various electronic things, one of which was a fax machine and a palm pilot. Last week they had me in tears, laughing my head off when they kept on saying "pecks" instead of "fax" and then with the whole "I like P.D.A." comment. A week has since gone by but they remembered last week's situation and so today, we had a total repeat. Hehehe... gotta love my Korean students. They're awesome. They're what's going to keep me young, for sure!!!
7. After class I headed over to Giggle Girl Jr's house. I've known for some time now that they'll be moving but it wasn't until today that they told me they're moving December 22. Upon hearing their official moving date, I got really sad. They're keeping their current house cause Mrs. Kim's husband will be living in it during the week, but Giggle Girl will no longer be here in Cheonan. She made me pinky swear that I'll come visit her and her mom... for sure!
8. I waved good-bye to them, jumped in the taxi and left. I felt like I was going to cry. Giggle Girl Jr. has been my little Korean sister now for about 2 years. I don't have a sister but I love her as if she were my very own blood sister.
9. I didn't hit the weights tonight or go boxing either. I had way too much homework and after 8 hours of university work and 2 hours of playing with Giggle Girl Jr., I was so exhausted. Mondays are always my longest days.
10. Q called me up. He had just finished class at the English school and was wanting to see me. We sat outside all cozy together for a bit and then headed over to a local pub for some citrus tea. Q's so cute.... he's so curious about my brothers. He's particularly curious about my brother Bobby-B and so tonight I amused him with some stories about how my parents were convinced Bobby-B and I would kill each other when we were young. We were always fighting.
QUESTION OF THE DAY...
What does family mean to you?
QUOTE OF THE DAY...
Call it a clan, call it a network, call it a tribe, call it a family. Whatever you call it, whoever you are, you need one.
-- Jane Howard
2. I'm a rotten, rotten aunt... yup, I am. Turns out my niece is 2, not 1. Wow, where did the time fly. Realizing that she's 2 really hit me funny. I am becoming the very relative I despised growing up. You know, the one who never remembered things about you, like your age or your name. "No, Auntie... I graduated high school years ago!"... "I'm Amy, not Ashley." I figure I'll slack off in the "bad relative group" for the rest of the year and then I'll put my family on my New Year's resolution list.
3. Every week I email all 292 students of mine. I email them lecture notes, a quick hello note and homework answers every Saturday. This past week I had gone out of my way to get my email translated into Korean so that they'd be extra prepared for class. I had asked them to bring in their presentation writing so that we could peer edit. Only 15 out of my 98 students today brought it in. There went that activity... ahhhhh!!!
4. I laugh at the fact that all my students know I'm on a diet... hehehe. They know I've been working really hard to become a flyweight boxer. Today some of my students thought it funny to test my self control by tempting me with goodies. Throughout my lesson, every once and a while when I turned to write something on the white board, a random student would run up and put a treat on my desk. They did this about 6 times and each time, I honestly didn't hear the student sneaking up. It was so funny. The class was in tears, giggling as they all watched their classmates tempt me... hehehe. By the end of the class I had 3 Snicker bars, a Twix bar, and 2 packs of cookies.
5. Despite my weakness for Snickers, I fought off temptation and, as a result, I was a huge hit with my next class. I handed out the oh so tempting treats to those who brought in their presentation writing.
6. No matter how much work and marking I have, there's no way I'd ever say I don't like my job... thanks to my students. I'm always amazed at how awesome they are. Today when we were reviewing last week's lesson, they got all giggly when I popped up a picture of various electronic things, one of which was a fax machine and a palm pilot. Last week they had me in tears, laughing my head off when they kept on saying "pecks" instead of "fax" and then with the whole "I like P.D.A." comment. A week has since gone by but they remembered last week's situation and so today, we had a total repeat. Hehehe... gotta love my Korean students. They're awesome. They're what's going to keep me young, for sure!!!
7. After class I headed over to Giggle Girl Jr's house. I've known for some time now that they'll be moving but it wasn't until today that they told me they're moving December 22. Upon hearing their official moving date, I got really sad. They're keeping their current house cause Mrs. Kim's husband will be living in it during the week, but Giggle Girl will no longer be here in Cheonan. She made me pinky swear that I'll come visit her and her mom... for sure!
8. I waved good-bye to them, jumped in the taxi and left. I felt like I was going to cry. Giggle Girl Jr. has been my little Korean sister now for about 2 years. I don't have a sister but I love her as if she were my very own blood sister.
9. I didn't hit the weights tonight or go boxing either. I had way too much homework and after 8 hours of university work and 2 hours of playing with Giggle Girl Jr., I was so exhausted. Mondays are always my longest days.
10. Q called me up. He had just finished class at the English school and was wanting to see me. We sat outside all cozy together for a bit and then headed over to a local pub for some citrus tea. Q's so cute.... he's so curious about my brothers. He's particularly curious about my brother Bobby-B and so tonight I amused him with some stories about how my parents were convinced Bobby-B and I would kill each other when we were young. We were always fighting.
QUESTION OF THE DAY...
What does family mean to you?
QUOTE OF THE DAY...
Call it a clan, call it a network, call it a tribe, call it a family. Whatever you call it, whoever you are, you need one.
-- Jane Howard
Sunday, November 25, 2007
Highlights of my Day... Sunday, November 25
1. Q and I joined up with the guys again, and some new dudes came out. We drove some 30 minutes to the base of this large mountain to play the Korean game of soccer-volleyball... ahhh... I can't remember the name of it. I had intended to join them in the fun. I was decked out in my Adidas training gear, had my Nike Shoxs on and was ready to go, but honestly, it was so
funny watching them play and so I decided to sit on the sidelines, cheer, video-tape, and laugh my butt off.
2. After soccer-volleyball, we drove another 30 minutes or so to this countryside restaurant where they made me slurp down one very large raw egg. They told me that because many people have bad allergic reactions to the meal we're about to eat, I must eat the egg or risk a visit to the local hospital... yikes! So, down went the egg... nasty. No sooner had I downed the egg but they brought out this massive pot with bones sticking out of it. It was a pot of chicken soup, not like Western chicken soup though. This soup looked like they had hacked up the chicken and thrown
it in while it was still kicking and screaming. It was quite delicious though... mind ya, seeing the twisted neck all curled up at the bottom was really nasty!!!
3. Later on we went bowling together. I think we did more laughing, high-fiveing, and falling than bowling. I almost peed my pants when the largest dude there (he was on my team), literally went flying when he threw the bowling ball. The heavy ball bounced... so did he! Hehehe.
4. I was the only girl playing but out of the 14 of us playing, I came in third. Q came in second and so we got labelled the "Sports Couple"... hehehe.
5. When we finally parted with the boys, stress instantly flooded my veins. I knew what was coming next... meeting Q's family. Plans had changed though and so I was now going to meet his mom and brother, not his mom and father as initially planned. Nonetheless, I was super nervous. I figured that when we parked the truck in the parking garage, I'd be able to step out and breath in the fresh crisp air before I met them... no such luck. As soon as we pulled into the garage, there was his mom. She was getting out of her car... what a coincidence!!!
6. Meeting his mother and brother consisted of exactly 47 minutes of me sitting as straight as possible, smiling at each word they said, and eating everything and anything his mom offered me. I was still full from the chicken but I didn't want to be rude and deny her generosity as she repeatedly handed me fork after fork with fruit on it. In 47 minutes, she must have fed me 2 pears, half an apple and 2 oranges... oh gosh!
7. It was quite nice meeting his family though. His mom is a pretty lady with pearls around her neck and short loose perma hair. His brother, Young Moon, is a 26-year-old gentle guy with a shy voice but a good handle on the English language. While Q and his mom talked in the kitchen, I leaned forward and told Young Moon I was so nervous. He leaned forward, gave me a smile and then said, "Me too, little."
8. On our way home, Q's phone rang non-stop. His friends were all calling, bombarding him with questions. They were as curious about my opinion of them as I was theirs. Q took it upon himself to teach me a couple of sentences, upon which he called back some of his friends and got me to tell them my sentences. I told them thank you for the great weekend, that I had a lot of fun, and I hope to see them again.
9. Finally arrived home. Q walked me to the elevator, like usual, but this time... oh gosh... we ran into Gym Sister from our boxing club. Despite my team mates not knowing about us, we've never been seen together. We weren't holding hands or anything but I know she totally sensed something. Looks like our secret is about to leak... oh gosh.
10. No sooner had Q and I parted, but I missed him. I honestly missed him. I haven't missed like this for some time now actually. I raced to my window to see if I could spot his truck driving in the distance. He was still parked though. One minute late, a text message. He missed me too ;)
QUESTION OF THE DAY...
Does it bother you that you just got beat by a g--i--r--l?
QUOTE OF THE DAY...
How can I control my life when I can't control my hair?!
-- Fido-Dido
funny watching them play and so I decided to sit on the sidelines, cheer, video-tape, and laugh my butt off. 2. After soccer-volleyball, we drove another 30 minutes or so to this countryside restaurant where they made me slurp down one very large raw egg. They told me that because many people have bad allergic reactions to the meal we're about to eat, I must eat the egg or risk a visit to the local hospital... yikes! So, down went the egg... nasty. No sooner had I downed the egg but they brought out this massive pot with bones sticking out of it. It was a pot of chicken soup, not like Western chicken soup though. This soup looked like they had hacked up the chicken and thrown
it in while it was still kicking and screaming. It was quite delicious though... mind ya, seeing the twisted neck all curled up at the bottom was really nasty!!!3. Later on we went bowling together. I think we did more laughing, high-fiveing, and falling than bowling. I almost peed my pants when the largest dude there (he was on my team), literally went flying when he threw the bowling ball. The heavy ball bounced... so did he! Hehehe.
4. I was the only girl playing but out of the 14 of us playing, I came in third. Q came in second and so we got labelled the "Sports Couple"... hehehe.
5. When we finally parted with the boys, stress instantly flooded my veins. I knew what was coming next... meeting Q's family. Plans had changed though and so I was now going to meet his mom and brother, not his mom and father as initially planned. Nonetheless, I was super nervous. I figured that when we parked the truck in the parking garage, I'd be able to step out and breath in the fresh crisp air before I met them... no such luck. As soon as we pulled into the garage, there was his mom. She was getting out of her car... what a coincidence!!!
6. Meeting his mother and brother consisted of exactly 47 minutes of me sitting as straight as possible, smiling at each word they said, and eating everything and anything his mom offered me. I was still full from the chicken but I didn't want to be rude and deny her generosity as she repeatedly handed me fork after fork with fruit on it. In 47 minutes, she must have fed me 2 pears, half an apple and 2 oranges... oh gosh!
7. It was quite nice meeting his family though. His mom is a pretty lady with pearls around her neck and short loose perma hair. His brother, Young Moon, is a 26-year-old gentle guy with a shy voice but a good handle on the English language. While Q and his mom talked in the kitchen, I leaned forward and told Young Moon I was so nervous. He leaned forward, gave me a smile and then said, "Me too, little."
8. On our way home, Q's phone rang non-stop. His friends were all calling, bombarding him with questions. They were as curious about my opinion of them as I was theirs. Q took it upon himself to teach me a couple of sentences, upon which he called back some of his friends and got me to tell them my sentences. I told them thank you for the great weekend, that I had a lot of fun, and I hope to see them again.
9. Finally arrived home. Q walked me to the elevator, like usual, but this time... oh gosh... we ran into Gym Sister from our boxing club. Despite my team mates not knowing about us, we've never been seen together. We weren't holding hands or anything but I know she totally sensed something. Looks like our secret is about to leak... oh gosh.
10. No sooner had Q and I parted, but I missed him. I honestly missed him. I haven't missed like this for some time now actually. I raced to my window to see if I could spot his truck driving in the distance. He was still parked though. One minute late, a text message. He missed me too ;)
QUESTION OF THE DAY...
Does it bother you that you just got beat by a g--i--r--l?
QUOTE OF THE DAY...
How can I control my life when I can't control my hair?!
-- Fido-Dido
Saturday, November 24, 2007
Highlights of my Day... Saturday, November 24
1. With much to do and absolutely no motivation to do it, I finally got up.... and only cause I couldn't hold "it" in anymore. I had to pee... hehehe. Too much information?! So be it... that's my story.
2. Today was the big day... Q and I were going to have our first weekend get-away. We were going to venture to his home stomping grounds, meet up with his friends and he was going to reveal his big secret to his family in friends... his secret being that I'm not a Korean girl. I knew I risked possible rejection and so I didn't want to show empty handed. I may not be Korean but one thing I'm not is a rude girl and I know enough about Korean culture to know you shouldn't show up without a gift. So today I went and picked up some oranges and pears for his family.
3. With his parents out of town at his grandma's house, I was able to buy more time to think this over. Tomorrow I'll meet them. Tonight though, I met his friends. We jumped in the back seat of one of his friend's cars. I thought it'd be funny to really shock them and so when they turned to look at me, I hide my mouth and lowered my eyes. My Korean and black hair had them convinced I was Korean until we got out of the car. They were so fascinated.
4. One wasn't fascinated though. Out of all that showed up at the restaurant (about 12 of them), along came one girl. She approached the table, took one look at me,.. took another look at me, and then this was followed by the dropping of her jaw and one long confused look. I'm sure she was thinking, "Who the heck brought the white girl?!" And with that look, I wanted to curl up in a corner. I'm quite comfortable with being the minority but I'm not cool with being looked upon as a freak.
5. Honestly, it was a brutal moment but it was the only moment that night that I seriously wondered why the heck I had ever agreed to come. She sensed this and I think she felt really bad cause she changed seats so she could sit beside me and for the rest of the night we were all giggles together.
6. Q's friends were loving the fact that I was a foreign girl. I thought they'd bombard me with the usual expected questions, where are you from, how old are you... blah, blah, blah. But no, instead, they curiously asked questions about Q and I. They called us the "International Couple" and wanted to know when we're going to get married. One of Q's buddies nominated himself to be our wedding MC while others tried to recommend nice wedding halls... easy there tiger!!! I've been dating Q only for about a week now and as sweet as I think he is, I really don't hear wedding bells in the near future. It was very amusing though. I like Q, he's a good guy. There's nothing extra ordinary about him... he's just a down-to-earth normal guy. Q is quite a sweet gentleman and so every time he did something for me or talked to me, it felt like all eyes were on us. Q has this cute habit of putting food on my plate and cutting my meat. I think it's super adorable but it they all clapped and stared at us... hehehe. What worries me about Q though is that I don't think he understands what it means to be a Korean dating a foreigner. As fun as it is right now, getting to know each other's culture, I will never be Korean and I don't know if he gets that... I may never learn how to cook kimchi. Sounds funny to say that but, well, date a Korean and you'll know.
7. I must say though, meeting his friends tonight was really awesome. They're all so different but were really cool to me. I really appreciated the fact that they all tried so hard to speak English and to include me in. One of Q's buddies (they call him the Black Pig) labelled himself my "Manager" and so he tried eagerly to answer people's questions about me. He was like my spoke person. Another guy, his nickname was Black Horse, acted as my body guard. Everytime someone said something strange, he'd cover my ears... hehehe. Whereas another buddy, who I named Moon-Ja-Ah (Trouble maker) proved to be quite the entertainer for me tonight. He said he looked exactly like Keanu Reeves... hmm...
8. After hours of the guys trying their hardest to speak English, we all had a laugh when they started to talk to the waitress in English without even realizing their were using English. She gave them this nasty confused look. They then tried to repeat their request in Korean but apparently forgot how to say it in Korean... we all were in tears from laughing.
9. When we drove into Daejon, I had made Q promise me that he wouldn't leave my side. I was super nervous about meeting his friends. I met 14 of his friends tonight and so it was a big deal. Q was awesome though. He did as he promised; he never left my side. Even when he got up to go to the restroom, he'd squeeze my hand and tell me he'll be back. Now I'm no suck... I'm no suck by any means, but this isn't exactly the easiest of situations to be in. Picture the scene, me, the only foreigner, meeting my boyfriend's closest friends for the first time. Regardless of all the worst-case scenarios that played out in my head this week, the night was a huge success... it was more successful than ever imagined!
10. By the time we called it a night, we had been with his friends for about 8 hours, we were all buddy-buddy, and I was totally happy I had come to Daejon. Q was so cute... he was all proud that his buddies loved me and so by the end of the night he was walking much taller.
QUESTION OF THE DAY...
When the hype has died, then what?
QUOTE OF THE DAY...
Love is not something we do, love is something we are.
-- Cliff Barry
2. Today was the big day... Q and I were going to have our first weekend get-away. We were going to venture to his home stomping grounds, meet up with his friends and he was going to reveal his big secret to his family in friends... his secret being that I'm not a Korean girl. I knew I risked possible rejection and so I didn't want to show empty handed. I may not be Korean but one thing I'm not is a rude girl and I know enough about Korean culture to know you shouldn't show up without a gift. So today I went and picked up some oranges and pears for his family.
3. With his parents out of town at his grandma's house, I was able to buy more time to think this over. Tomorrow I'll meet them. Tonight though, I met his friends. We jumped in the back seat of one of his friend's cars. I thought it'd be funny to really shock them and so when they turned to look at me, I hide my mouth and lowered my eyes. My Korean and black hair had them convinced I was Korean until we got out of the car. They were so fascinated.
4. One wasn't fascinated though. Out of all that showed up at the restaurant (about 12 of them), along came one girl. She approached the table, took one look at me,.. took another look at me, and then this was followed by the dropping of her jaw and one long confused look. I'm sure she was thinking, "Who the heck brought the white girl?!" And with that look, I wanted to curl up in a corner. I'm quite comfortable with being the minority but I'm not cool with being looked upon as a freak.
5. Honestly, it was a brutal moment but it was the only moment that night that I seriously wondered why the heck I had ever agreed to come. She sensed this and I think she felt really bad cause she changed seats so she could sit beside me and for the rest of the night we were all giggles together.
6. Q's friends were loving the fact that I was a foreign girl. I thought they'd bombard me with the usual expected questions, where are you from, how old are you... blah, blah, blah. But no, instead, they curiously asked questions about Q and I. They called us the "International Couple" and wanted to know when we're going to get married. One of Q's buddies nominated himself to be our wedding MC while others tried to recommend nice wedding halls... easy there tiger!!! I've been dating Q only for about a week now and as sweet as I think he is, I really don't hear wedding bells in the near future. It was very amusing though. I like Q, he's a good guy. There's nothing extra ordinary about him... he's just a down-to-earth normal guy. Q is quite a sweet gentleman and so every time he did something for me or talked to me, it felt like all eyes were on us. Q has this cute habit of putting food on my plate and cutting my meat. I think it's super adorable but it they all clapped and stared at us... hehehe. What worries me about Q though is that I don't think he understands what it means to be a Korean dating a foreigner. As fun as it is right now, getting to know each other's culture, I will never be Korean and I don't know if he gets that... I may never learn how to cook kimchi. Sounds funny to say that but, well, date a Korean and you'll know.
7. I must say though, meeting his friends tonight was really awesome. They're all so different but were really cool to me. I really appreciated the fact that they all tried so hard to speak English and to include me in. One of Q's buddies (they call him the Black Pig) labelled himself my "Manager" and so he tried eagerly to answer people's questions about me. He was like my spoke person. Another guy, his nickname was Black Horse, acted as my body guard. Everytime someone said something strange, he'd cover my ears... hehehe. Whereas another buddy, who I named Moon-Ja-Ah (Trouble maker) proved to be quite the entertainer for me tonight. He said he looked exactly like Keanu Reeves... hmm...
8. After hours of the guys trying their hardest to speak English, we all had a laugh when they started to talk to the waitress in English without even realizing their were using English. She gave them this nasty confused look. They then tried to repeat their request in Korean but apparently forgot how to say it in Korean... we all were in tears from laughing.
9. When we drove into Daejon, I had made Q promise me that he wouldn't leave my side. I was super nervous about meeting his friends. I met 14 of his friends tonight and so it was a big deal. Q was awesome though. He did as he promised; he never left my side. Even when he got up to go to the restroom, he'd squeeze my hand and tell me he'll be back. Now I'm no suck... I'm no suck by any means, but this isn't exactly the easiest of situations to be in. Picture the scene, me, the only foreigner, meeting my boyfriend's closest friends for the first time. Regardless of all the worst-case scenarios that played out in my head this week, the night was a huge success... it was more successful than ever imagined!
10. By the time we called it a night, we had been with his friends for about 8 hours, we were all buddy-buddy, and I was totally happy I had come to Daejon. Q was so cute... he was all proud that his buddies loved me and so by the end of the night he was walking much taller.
QUESTION OF THE DAY...
When the hype has died, then what?
QUOTE OF THE DAY...
Love is not something we do, love is something we are.
-- Cliff Barry
Friday, November 23, 2007
Highlights of my Day... Friday, November 23
1. 8am rolled around and I still hadn't gone to sleep. Actually, I take that back, I went to sleep but didn't sleep much. Every 2 hours I allowed myself to sleep for about 30 minutes. I had so much work to do. Mind ya, I'm sure that had I had a good night's sleep, I would have been much more productive. My speed was like grandma-style and I definitely allowed myself to be distracted.
2. Had a most hilarious encounter with one of my dance students today after I caught her using her cell phone in class. Now, they all know my classroom rule about cell phones; I catch you using it in class, I take it and you can get it back the next day. One problem though, this means my Friday students have to wait till Monday. Well, apparently this one student wasn't going to accept that....!!!
3. After class, this particular student approached me. Her English is really low and so she resorted to pushing and pulling, begging and pleading for her cell phone back. She even cornered me. I pulled my camera out of my bag and tried to capture the scene. Now had this been one of the other trouble-maker groupies that, well, hence the name-- make trouble in my class-- I wouldn't have bent the rule. But, given the fact that this particular student and I had a serious talk a few weeks back where upon she promised me she'd study harder and participate in class, which she has, I thought I'd make a deal with her. Our deal being that if I catch her using her cell phone again in class, she has to come to my boxing club... hehehe. She whinnied that if she had to go, she'd die, my response, "Well, I guess you better not use your cell phone then!"
4. After school I did some errands... banking, grocery shopping, etc. On route to the bank, I noticed a new hair shop selling lots of goodies and trinkets for hair and so I decided to pop in. It was super funny that I did too cause upon noticing me, the lady in the shop jumped out of her seat and was all super friendly. Scored a free hair band... sweet. I'll be sure to add that to my already super Koreanized outfits... hehehe.
5. 6pm rolled around and by then I was almost dead to the world. My brain was working on overload and I was convinced I could hear the gears in my head grinding. I meant to only lie on the couch to study Korean but ended up passing right out.
6. Woke up at 8:30pm and freaked out at what time it was. I had missed weight training. Ahhh... this week has been terrible for training. I've been just so busy.
7. Knowing full well that I really shouldn't have gone to boxing, I got ready and booted it out the door. I showed up at training still half asleep and sleep lines on my face from where my sleeve had been pressed up against it... hehehe. The gym was swarming with people and I was quite surprised to see three of my team mates there, one of which was "Him". I've decided that from here on out, I'll refer to "Him" as "Q". We kind of have this inside joke about IQ -- me being high IQ and he just being Q, I (me), being the one that is smartening him up... I and Q = IQ... get it? got it? ... anyways... pass.
8. For some reason, I don't know why, Junior Mint was training solo tonight as supposed to training us boxers. For the most part, Junior Mint only trains the team members but tonight cause he was training, I had to train with Milk Dud. I haven't trained with Milk Dud for quite a while now and personally, I don't really like training with him. I think he tries to hard to speak English to me instead of just telling me in Korean or showing me and letting me figure it out. So training with him ends up to be more or less a discussion.
9. Well, tonight's training didn't even get so far as to become a discussion. I was so exhausted and so I decided to stop training. I felt so disappointed. My body wanted to train but my mind just couldn't concentrate. I was running on low energy and no steam. Black Skinny tried to cheer me up by asking me why I looked so tired and why I had a sore on my lip... "kissing? Amy you kissing?" he kept on asking me. I couldn't help but laugh at the irony of the whole situation. Little did he know that yes, I had been kissed and the very person in fact who I had kissed was none other than the dude standing to my left... Q. Oh man, when my team mates and coach eventually get word of Q and my secret, they're going to flip... absolutely flip!!!
10. Q waited around for me and then drove me home. We walked out of the club together but were sure to be all buddy-buddy. Once we turned the corner though, we were all cutesy together. Little did we know though that the young guy who works at the store below our boxing club was taking out the trash. He definitely saw us cause when I looked to the right and saw him standing there, he was all wide-eyed. He's quite familiar with us from the boxing club. We're in his shop everyday. I don't think he'll say anything though... he doesn't even know it's a secret.
QUESTION OF THE DAY...
Do you understand the "I" in "IQ"?
QUOTE OF THE DAY...
To infinity and beyond.
-- Buzz Lightyear from the movie "Toy Story"
2. Had a most hilarious encounter with one of my dance students today after I caught her using her cell phone in class. Now, they all know my classroom rule about cell phones; I catch you using it in class, I take it and you can get it back the next day. One problem though, this means my Friday students have to wait till Monday. Well, apparently this one student wasn't going to accept that....!!!
3. After class, this particular student approached me. Her English is really low and so she resorted to pushing and pulling, begging and pleading for her cell phone back. She even cornered me. I pulled my camera out of my bag and tried to capture the scene. Now had this been one of the other trouble-maker groupies that, well, hence the name-- make trouble in my class-- I wouldn't have bent the rule. But, given the fact that this particular student and I had a serious talk a few weeks back where upon she promised me she'd study harder and participate in class, which she has, I thought I'd make a deal with her. Our deal being that if I catch her using her cell phone again in class, she has to come to my boxing club... hehehe. She whinnied that if she had to go, she'd die, my response, "Well, I guess you better not use your cell phone then!"
4. After school I did some errands... banking, grocery shopping, etc. On route to the bank, I noticed a new hair shop selling lots of goodies and trinkets for hair and so I decided to pop in. It was super funny that I did too cause upon noticing me, the lady in the shop jumped out of her seat and was all super friendly. Scored a free hair band... sweet. I'll be sure to add that to my already super Koreanized outfits... hehehe.
5. 6pm rolled around and by then I was almost dead to the world. My brain was working on overload and I was convinced I could hear the gears in my head grinding. I meant to only lie on the couch to study Korean but ended up passing right out.
6. Woke up at 8:30pm and freaked out at what time it was. I had missed weight training. Ahhh... this week has been terrible for training. I've been just so busy.
7. Knowing full well that I really shouldn't have gone to boxing, I got ready and booted it out the door. I showed up at training still half asleep and sleep lines on my face from where my sleeve had been pressed up against it... hehehe. The gym was swarming with people and I was quite surprised to see three of my team mates there, one of which was "Him". I've decided that from here on out, I'll refer to "Him" as "Q". We kind of have this inside joke about IQ -- me being high IQ and he just being Q, I (me), being the one that is smartening him up... I and Q = IQ... get it? got it? ... anyways... pass.
8. For some reason, I don't know why, Junior Mint was training solo tonight as supposed to training us boxers. For the most part, Junior Mint only trains the team members but tonight cause he was training, I had to train with Milk Dud. I haven't trained with Milk Dud for quite a while now and personally, I don't really like training with him. I think he tries to hard to speak English to me instead of just telling me in Korean or showing me and letting me figure it out. So training with him ends up to be more or less a discussion.
9. Well, tonight's training didn't even get so far as to become a discussion. I was so exhausted and so I decided to stop training. I felt so disappointed. My body wanted to train but my mind just couldn't concentrate. I was running on low energy and no steam. Black Skinny tried to cheer me up by asking me why I looked so tired and why I had a sore on my lip... "kissing? Amy you kissing?" he kept on asking me. I couldn't help but laugh at the irony of the whole situation. Little did he know that yes, I had been kissed and the very person in fact who I had kissed was none other than the dude standing to my left... Q. Oh man, when my team mates and coach eventually get word of Q and my secret, they're going to flip... absolutely flip!!!
10. Q waited around for me and then drove me home. We walked out of the club together but were sure to be all buddy-buddy. Once we turned the corner though, we were all cutesy together. Little did we know though that the young guy who works at the store below our boxing club was taking out the trash. He definitely saw us cause when I looked to the right and saw him standing there, he was all wide-eyed. He's quite familiar with us from the boxing club. We're in his shop everyday. I don't think he'll say anything though... he doesn't even know it's a secret.
QUESTION OF THE DAY...
Do you understand the "I" in "IQ"?
QUOTE OF THE DAY...
To infinity and beyond.
-- Buzz Lightyear from the movie "Toy Story"
Thursday, November 22, 2007
Highlights of my Day... Thursday, November 22
1. Holy drama in the school stairwell!!! Some female student turned around and went buck style, yelling and squirming, at the idea that the male student behind her looked up her skirt. As if I were some kind of ref, she turned to me and whinnied to me. I didn't know either student involved but apparently I was now involved. My response, "Listen sweetie, maybe if you wore appropriate clothes like a lady, as supposed to club wear, you wouldn't have this problem. Where is the rest of your skirt?" Seriously,... I don't know what's up with some of these female students. I'm convinced there's more material in my knee socks than some of these girls' skirts and so I have no sympathy for them.
2. And on that note, she walked off all huffing and puffing, leaving me with a super grinning male student. I knew what he did wasn't appropriate but come on... she really set-up an easy situation. So, I took one look at him, gave him a little slap across the back of the head, said, "Smarten up!" and then headed to class.
3. Word spread fast about "P.D.A." and "pecks" and so today's class tried to break my serious face by repeatedly using that word in class. Finally I gave in and broke out into a giggle fit.
4. Apparently Australia is teaching Kim Tae more than just English... today he told me on msn he saw his first gay couple... hehehe. It's interesting to hear how he's coping as a minority. Slowly he's adjusting though. Today I gave him his English name, Tytus. I picked it cause it's a Polish name that means giant. To me, Kim Tae is a big guy... a big guy with a big heart. I thought it very fitting.
5. On account that I still haven't killed all those student reports, I missed weight training and boxing... and hated it! Despite the pain, sore muscles and punches to the body and head I take at boxing... and the occasional accidental punch to the face.... I really love boxing and I look forward all day to training. So not going to training tonight really killed my spirit, but, I really needed to finish these reports.
6. How lazy am I?! ... hehehe. While slaving away at marking, I decided I was hungry. I didn't want to get all bundled up and go outside, so, I ordered in. I'm almost embarrassed to tell ya that I ordered from a restaurant that's exactly 3 minutes from my house... and, cause they don't deliver anything less than $6, I had to order extra things. This resulted in me stocking up on soonda-bu-jjiga (tofu soup). I ordered three... hehehe.
7. Got a much deserved and super sweet break around 9:30pm when "He" called me. He attends an English academy down the road from my house and he classes had just ended so he wanted to come see me. We sat downstairs at building entrance, sipping on tea and milk.
8. Part of the reason why I slaved away tonight is because this weekend "He" and I are going on a weekend get-away to his hometown. I asked him tonight if he had told his parents that his girlfriend isn't Korean and he answered by saying, "Sometimes me family life low, so we need event. This is great event!" .... what?! As if I needed anymore reason why I should be nervous meeting his parents... oh gosh. The fact that he called this situation an "event" tells me that ya, he knows this is going to be a big situation. With the countdown ticking to the "big event", pressure is definitely growing!
9. You know you got quite a cute sweetie when your boyfriend asks you for kisses when you leave... so cute! We're still kind of at that stage where we get giggly when we show any kind of affection towards each other, but I love how he says goodbye to me. Right before I jump out of his truck, he always puts his hand on my arm and asks, "Amy bo-bo" (Amy kiss). And after I give him a kiss, he wraps his hands around my face, draws it close to his and then kisses my cheeks and forehead. I love it... I'm all about the forehead kiss, that's the key kiss that I melt over.
10. Back to the slavery I returned, slaving away at those reports literally all night. Every couple of hours or so I took a break and cuddled with Mi Nam for about 30 minutes. There's a certain satisfaction that I get though with really putting my nose to the grind. After which, it felt so great finally finishing those reports and knowing that they won't be taunting me anymore.
QUESTION OF THE DAY...
What's your signature move?
QUOTE OF THE DAY...
Life is a zoo in a jungle.
-- Peter De Vries
2. And on that note, she walked off all huffing and puffing, leaving me with a super grinning male student. I knew what he did wasn't appropriate but come on... she really set-up an easy situation. So, I took one look at him, gave him a little slap across the back of the head, said, "Smarten up!" and then headed to class.
3. Word spread fast about "P.D.A." and "pecks" and so today's class tried to break my serious face by repeatedly using that word in class. Finally I gave in and broke out into a giggle fit.
4. Apparently Australia is teaching Kim Tae more than just English... today he told me on msn he saw his first gay couple... hehehe. It's interesting to hear how he's coping as a minority. Slowly he's adjusting though. Today I gave him his English name, Tytus. I picked it cause it's a Polish name that means giant. To me, Kim Tae is a big guy... a big guy with a big heart. I thought it very fitting.
5. On account that I still haven't killed all those student reports, I missed weight training and boxing... and hated it! Despite the pain, sore muscles and punches to the body and head I take at boxing... and the occasional accidental punch to the face.... I really love boxing and I look forward all day to training. So not going to training tonight really killed my spirit, but, I really needed to finish these reports.
6. How lazy am I?! ... hehehe. While slaving away at marking, I decided I was hungry. I didn't want to get all bundled up and go outside, so, I ordered in. I'm almost embarrassed to tell ya that I ordered from a restaurant that's exactly 3 minutes from my house... and, cause they don't deliver anything less than $6, I had to order extra things. This resulted in me stocking up on soonda-bu-jjiga (tofu soup). I ordered three... hehehe.
7. Got a much deserved and super sweet break around 9:30pm when "He" called me. He attends an English academy down the road from my house and he classes had just ended so he wanted to come see me. We sat downstairs at building entrance, sipping on tea and milk.
8. Part of the reason why I slaved away tonight is because this weekend "He" and I are going on a weekend get-away to his hometown. I asked him tonight if he had told his parents that his girlfriend isn't Korean and he answered by saying, "Sometimes me family life low, so we need event. This is great event!" .... what?! As if I needed anymore reason why I should be nervous meeting his parents... oh gosh. The fact that he called this situation an "event" tells me that ya, he knows this is going to be a big situation. With the countdown ticking to the "big event", pressure is definitely growing!
9. You know you got quite a cute sweetie when your boyfriend asks you for kisses when you leave... so cute! We're still kind of at that stage where we get giggly when we show any kind of affection towards each other, but I love how he says goodbye to me. Right before I jump out of his truck, he always puts his hand on my arm and asks, "Amy bo-bo" (Amy kiss). And after I give him a kiss, he wraps his hands around my face, draws it close to his and then kisses my cheeks and forehead. I love it... I'm all about the forehead kiss, that's the key kiss that I melt over.
10. Back to the slavery I returned, slaving away at those reports literally all night. Every couple of hours or so I took a break and cuddled with Mi Nam for about 30 minutes. There's a certain satisfaction that I get though with really putting my nose to the grind. After which, it felt so great finally finishing those reports and knowing that they won't be taunting me anymore.
QUESTION OF THE DAY...
What's your signature move?
QUOTE OF THE DAY...
Life is a zoo in a jungle.
-- Peter De Vries
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Highlights of my Day... Wednesday, November 21
1. You know you're a geek when you find yourself springing out of bed and eagerly racing off to class... yup, that's me. I think it's a combo of reasons why I really look forward to my Korean tutoring lessons. It's a change of routine, a change of scenery, my teacher is quite the funny lady, the lesson material is challenging and I can immediately apply what I'm learning to my daily life.
2. Arrived in Seoul and was greeted by snow! Wow... the first snow fall of the season. I remember Byung Hyuk telling me how the first snow fall is always special. I even remember last year's first snow fall. I was sitting in Kim Tae's car at the Cheonan Stadium parking lot, having quite an "interesting" discussion... hmmm....
3. Passed this week's Korean language with flying colors... sweet!
4. Literally got knocked off my feet with a bare-fist punch I took in the cheek bone... oh gosh! At training today Junior Mint dropped the pads to show me something. He yelled out "left", which he meant to say "right", and so BANG... a 35 year old, full grown professional, former Korean champion boxer punched me right in the cheek bone.
5. There was about a 2 second delayed reaction and then I dropped to my knees and burst out in laughter. It hurt so much though and so my eyes instantly filled up with tears. Everyone in the club stopped at the sound of the punch and Junior Mint rushed over to me. I was ok but for the rest of the day I sported a swollen cheek. I think it'll bruise, for sure.
6. Out of pure curiosity, I dilly-dallied around the gym after training. I knew "He" would be coming around 5pm and so I was curious about how he'd react to me with the others around and if the others already knew or not. He never showed up and so I spent money feeding Junior Mint and Milk Dud in my efforts to kill time... that's ok. Five minutes after I left, his truck past me in the street, Murphy's Law!
7. So... Saturday is the BIG day.... oh gosh. I've been working my butt off this week cause "He" asked me to go to his hometown (Daejon) with him. He's meeting up with some of his school mates from public school but the reason why this is such a big day is because he'll be taking me to his family's house.... I'll be meeting his parents!!! Apparently they're well aware of the fact that he has a girlfriend, which I find interesting cause we haven't even been together for a week now. Mind ya, what they don't know is the fact that I'm not Korean... oh gosh! Let's see how this goes down. Pressure is on and I'm already stressing about it!!!
8. In Canada, my ex's and friends' parents always loved me. I was always the cute bubbly little Polish girl who always said her "p's and q's", as my mom calls them (=please and thank you), ate everything on her plate, who laughed at the cheesiest of jokes, contagiously smiled, and was from a good Christian home. Here in Korea though, manners are so different and many people are Buddhist, so I don't really get the props I did before about being Christian. My technique with winning parents over in Korea is all about educating myself about Korean manners, culture and learning more Korean. Manners are huge here... I like it! Korea is definitely a land of one people and I find that despite how much they say they may like us foreigners, when it comes to being the girlfriend or boyfriend of their son or daughter, it's a whole different issue. For the most part, they like us as long as we don't get too close or too serious and, you know what, I can totally understand. After all, Korea is definitely very rich in culture and tradition and they want to preserve this. I respect that... doesn't mean I'm not going to date their son though.
9. Spent a good part of my evening doing more marking... this seems like the story of my life lately. I keep reminding myself though... 4 more weeks! Four weeks of being in workaholic mode and eat, sleep and breathing marks is nothing compared to the TEN WEEKS of vacation that I'll be having... sweet! My plans for this vacation involve weight training, boxing and studying Korean... nothing more, nothing less.
10. My marking was interrupted by Jae Min who continually insisted I take a break and join him downtown, so, I did. I showed up, he was there with another random cute girl he's trying to hook up with and some dude I met once before. Jae Min always has some girl with him... incredible. Tonight's girl was really pretty but there's something about a girl who goes to the bathroom with a massive bag, takes about 2o minutes and then comes back with refreshed make-up and smelling like she just escaped drowning in her perfume that doesn't sit well with me. Jae Min may not be Prince Charming, nor is he the brightest light bulb in the pack but, he is pretty great. I don't want him with some flake who's obviously more into herself than him.
QUESTION OF THE DAY...
Where's my other half tonight?
QUOTE OF THE DAY...
Life is tough, and if you have the ability to laugh at it you have the ability to enjoy it.
-- Salma Hayek
2. Arrived in Seoul and was greeted by snow! Wow... the first snow fall of the season. I remember Byung Hyuk telling me how the first snow fall is always special. I even remember last year's first snow fall. I was sitting in Kim Tae's car at the Cheonan Stadium parking lot, having quite an "interesting" discussion... hmmm....
3. Passed this week's Korean language with flying colors... sweet!
4. Literally got knocked off my feet with a bare-fist punch I took in the cheek bone... oh gosh! At training today Junior Mint dropped the pads to show me something. He yelled out "left", which he meant to say "right", and so BANG... a 35 year old, full grown professional, former Korean champion boxer punched me right in the cheek bone.
5. There was about a 2 second delayed reaction and then I dropped to my knees and burst out in laughter. It hurt so much though and so my eyes instantly filled up with tears. Everyone in the club stopped at the sound of the punch and Junior Mint rushed over to me. I was ok but for the rest of the day I sported a swollen cheek. I think it'll bruise, for sure.
6. Out of pure curiosity, I dilly-dallied around the gym after training. I knew "He" would be coming around 5pm and so I was curious about how he'd react to me with the others around and if the others already knew or not. He never showed up and so I spent money feeding Junior Mint and Milk Dud in my efforts to kill time... that's ok. Five minutes after I left, his truck past me in the street, Murphy's Law!
7. So... Saturday is the BIG day.... oh gosh. I've been working my butt off this week cause "He" asked me to go to his hometown (Daejon) with him. He's meeting up with some of his school mates from public school but the reason why this is such a big day is because he'll be taking me to his family's house.... I'll be meeting his parents!!! Apparently they're well aware of the fact that he has a girlfriend, which I find interesting cause we haven't even been together for a week now. Mind ya, what they don't know is the fact that I'm not Korean... oh gosh! Let's see how this goes down. Pressure is on and I'm already stressing about it!!!
8. In Canada, my ex's and friends' parents always loved me. I was always the cute bubbly little Polish girl who always said her "p's and q's", as my mom calls them (=please and thank you), ate everything on her plate, who laughed at the cheesiest of jokes, contagiously smiled, and was from a good Christian home. Here in Korea though, manners are so different and many people are Buddhist, so I don't really get the props I did before about being Christian. My technique with winning parents over in Korea is all about educating myself about Korean manners, culture and learning more Korean. Manners are huge here... I like it! Korea is definitely a land of one people and I find that despite how much they say they may like us foreigners, when it comes to being the girlfriend or boyfriend of their son or daughter, it's a whole different issue. For the most part, they like us as long as we don't get too close or too serious and, you know what, I can totally understand. After all, Korea is definitely very rich in culture and tradition and they want to preserve this. I respect that... doesn't mean I'm not going to date their son though.
9. Spent a good part of my evening doing more marking... this seems like the story of my life lately. I keep reminding myself though... 4 more weeks! Four weeks of being in workaholic mode and eat, sleep and breathing marks is nothing compared to the TEN WEEKS of vacation that I'll be having... sweet! My plans for this vacation involve weight training, boxing and studying Korean... nothing more, nothing less.
10. My marking was interrupted by Jae Min who continually insisted I take a break and join him downtown, so, I did. I showed up, he was there with another random cute girl he's trying to hook up with and some dude I met once before. Jae Min always has some girl with him... incredible. Tonight's girl was really pretty but there's something about a girl who goes to the bathroom with a massive bag, takes about 2o minutes and then comes back with refreshed make-up and smelling like she just escaped drowning in her perfume that doesn't sit well with me. Jae Min may not be Prince Charming, nor is he the brightest light bulb in the pack but, he is pretty great. I don't want him with some flake who's obviously more into herself than him.
QUESTION OF THE DAY...
Where's my other half tonight?
QUOTE OF THE DAY...
Life is tough, and if you have the ability to laugh at it you have the ability to enjoy it.
-- Salma Hayek
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Highlights of my Day... Tuesday, November 20
1. Met up with Byung Hyuk to help him edit his English homework and just to hang out on campus. Today he brought me a piece of his writing to edit it was titled "Why you are single". I had a good laugh at this cause it totally seemed like he had directed his writing towards me. He brought up an interesting point and that is that many people think there's always something better around the corner and so they hold off, when in fact, maybe that "better" is the person right in front of them. I love the pot shot he took when he wrote, "You're not getting younger, you're going to get wrinkles on your face and so don't waste your time" and on that note, I held up my cell phone and checked out my own face.... one wrinkle, mind ya, it's a laugh line and I like it.
2. Our humorous discussion however was interrupted when I got a phone call from an unknown number. On the other end of the line there was a husky man's voice... a Korean man. He asked me if I was Amy and then... guess who?!... It was Mook!!! Instantly my eyes widened, my smile stretched from ear to ear and my ears perked up. You see, Mook use to work at the gym where I first lived in Korea but when the gym closed, he moved back to Chunju. The last time I saw him was about a year ago, if not more. I use to workout with him 5-6 days a week, eat my dinner with him and then on the weekends he, me and some of the other gym dudes use to hang out. Mook spoke very little English... verrrrry little, but we always managed to have a good time.
3. The turning point with our friendship though came one night when I cried in front of him. I was planning on breaking my engagement with my fiance at the time who was back in Canada. I knew breaking this would bring me hard times and much opposition. I really wanted to tell Mook all about my stress but we both didn't know each other's language and so I broke out in tears. Later on that night, the drama escalated and things took a turn for the worse. We ended up getting into a fight. The next day I hid my puffy eyes under the rim of my ball cap and went to the gym. Mook approached me and we both said sorry. It's strange to note though that it took us to have such a bad misunderstanding to realize that we both really care about each other. It's like that's what bonded us and from that day on, I totally adored Mook and was quite defensive if I heard anyone talking about him.
4. Today on the phone, Mook spoke in English. I was incredibly amazed. I sat there and listened as my adorable Mook with the pudgy cheeks said, "Amy, I miss you. Me come next week or next month yes to see you. I wish we together again." Ok, so it was broken English but considering his total lack of English before, this was a miracle. As it turns out, he's no longer a fitness trainer but instead is a regular 9-5 office worker. My cute Mook... all grown up!!!
5. Got a letter from my boxing coach in Canada, Egerton Marcus (proud to note here that he's a silver Olympian!!!). Out of all the things that one would expect to miss about Canada, I'd definitely have to say that at the top section of my list is Egerton and EMBA boxing gym. I practically lived there. We've kept in touch since I moved here but today I was quite thrown off guard by what he wrote. Here's his letter... note how he calls me "Miss B"... hehehe, so cute.
7. Word on the street is that despite the Korean government's anticipation of changing the rules for us foreign teachers, because I'm renewing my visa at my current school, I apparently am not affected.... how cool is that?! Great... no Canada for me! Sorry but as much as I'd love to see my family and friends, January is going to be a huge month for me with my boxing and I really don't care to see all that snow like last year... disgusting!!!
8. In between classes today, I studied my Korean and managed to get two of my students to check my homework... hehehe. Later on I took my homework to boxing and Junior Mint went over some of the sentences with me. He thought it was so cute that I was studying Korean but honestly, I really should have started tutoring lessons long time ago. Just think, had I started these when I first got here, maybe I'd be fluent by now!!!
9. Fell asleep on the floor before hitting the gym and apparently when I was sleeping I must have been rubbing the heck out of my eye. When I woke up, not only was my eye swollen but the white part, the actual eye itself was swollen... freaky, definitely freaky. Ran into my coworker Amy at the gym and so she was my hero of the day with her eye drops... thanks Amy!
10. Cool... within 6 days my A.D.I.D.A.S. video on YouTube has been watched by almost 2,000 viewers... wow! I'm now up to 40 subscribers... thanks everyone!!! Mind ya, I am curious as to why that silly video of me picking up Kim Tae is so popular. Almost 25,000 people have viewed that specific video!
QUESTION OF THE DAY...
What should I do for my next video?
QUOTE OF THE DAY...
Never apologize for showing feeling. When you do so, you apologize for truth.
-- Benjamin Disraeli
2. Our humorous discussion however was interrupted when I got a phone call from an unknown number. On the other end of the line there was a husky man's voice... a Korean man. He asked me if I was Amy and then... guess who?!... It was Mook!!! Instantly my eyes widened, my smile stretched from ear to ear and my ears perked up. You see, Mook use to work at the gym where I first lived in Korea but when the gym closed, he moved back to Chunju. The last time I saw him was about a year ago, if not more. I use to workout with him 5-6 days a week, eat my dinner with him and then on the weekends he, me and some of the other gym dudes use to hang out. Mook spoke very little English... verrrrry little, but we always managed to have a good time.
3. The turning point with our friendship though came one night when I cried in front of him. I was planning on breaking my engagement with my fiance at the time who was back in Canada. I knew breaking this would bring me hard times and much opposition. I really wanted to tell Mook all about my stress but we both didn't know each other's language and so I broke out in tears. Later on that night, the drama escalated and things took a turn for the worse. We ended up getting into a fight. The next day I hid my puffy eyes under the rim of my ball cap and went to the gym. Mook approached me and we both said sorry. It's strange to note though that it took us to have such a bad misunderstanding to realize that we both really care about each other. It's like that's what bonded us and from that day on, I totally adored Mook and was quite defensive if I heard anyone talking about him.
4. Today on the phone, Mook spoke in English. I was incredibly amazed. I sat there and listened as my adorable Mook with the pudgy cheeks said, "Amy, I miss you. Me come next week or next month yes to see you. I wish we together again." Ok, so it was broken English but considering his total lack of English before, this was a miracle. As it turns out, he's no longer a fitness trainer but instead is a regular 9-5 office worker. My cute Mook... all grown up!!!
5. Got a letter from my boxing coach in Canada, Egerton Marcus (proud to note here that he's a silver Olympian!!!). Out of all the things that one would expect to miss about Canada, I'd definitely have to say that at the top section of my list is Egerton and EMBA boxing gym. I practically lived there. We've kept in touch since I moved here but today I was quite thrown off guard by what he wrote. Here's his letter... note how he calls me "Miss B"... hehehe, so cute.
Hey Miss B ? whats shaking.. I still cant get over the fact that you want to take boxing to the professional level! whats in it for you? what do you want to achieve as a boxer? Have you thought of maybe fighting as an amateur first? Do you have the time to prepare yourself for the ring with your added responsibilities as a teacher? Miss B you know I'm always in your corner. I want you to really think about what you want out of this game. One point to remember its only a game when you are training, when you're in the ring its a fight. I really believe you have the ability to achieve anything you put your mind to...god knows how stubborn you can be when you got something on your mind. But I want you to be safe so please think about it a little more, i miss you and i care about you, I don't like the idea of someone hitting you when I'm not there to protect you. Miss B i don't mean to rain on your parade but that's the way i feel. .....please assure me that you would think about this further........Bye 4 now love EMBA6. Oh gosh.... got word today that Hye Jin is coming to Cheonan. Apparently she's changing coaches and so she'll be training at my gym. I sense some trouble if she finds out I'm friends with Kim Jin!!! Oh gosh.. hard times are coming my way... I can smell it!
7. Word on the street is that despite the Korean government's anticipation of changing the rules for us foreign teachers, because I'm renewing my visa at my current school, I apparently am not affected.... how cool is that?! Great... no Canada for me! Sorry but as much as I'd love to see my family and friends, January is going to be a huge month for me with my boxing and I really don't care to see all that snow like last year... disgusting!!!
8. In between classes today, I studied my Korean and managed to get two of my students to check my homework... hehehe. Later on I took my homework to boxing and Junior Mint went over some of the sentences with me. He thought it was so cute that I was studying Korean but honestly, I really should have started tutoring lessons long time ago. Just think, had I started these when I first got here, maybe I'd be fluent by now!!!
9. Fell asleep on the floor before hitting the gym and apparently when I was sleeping I must have been rubbing the heck out of my eye. When I woke up, not only was my eye swollen but the white part, the actual eye itself was swollen... freaky, definitely freaky. Ran into my coworker Amy at the gym and so she was my hero of the day with her eye drops... thanks Amy!
10. Cool... within 6 days my A.D.I.D.A.S. video on YouTube has been watched by almost 2,000 viewers... wow! I'm now up to 40 subscribers... thanks everyone!!! Mind ya, I am curious as to why that silly video of me picking up Kim Tae is so popular. Almost 25,000 people have viewed that specific video!
QUESTION OF THE DAY...
What should I do for my next video?
QUOTE OF THE DAY...
Never apologize for showing feeling. When you do so, you apologize for truth.
-- Benjamin Disraeli
Monday, November 19, 2007
Highlights of my Day... Monday, November 19
1. Gotta love Korean students who mispronounce English words and kill the English language. I swear, teaching English as a foreign language is super hilarious at times. Today I had the class in tears after I explained a word one of the students had mispronounced. The word they were trying to say was "fax" but it came out as "pecks". He kept on saying, "I have a pecks", which he meant to say, "I have a fax". They didn't know why it was so funny and so I quickly drew a picture of a man's chest with nipples and then pointed. I was literally in tears and for the next 20 minutes, every time I looked at that student, I giggled.
QUESTION OF THE DAY...
When are you coming to Cheonan?
QUOTE OF THE DAY...
Love is not a marsh mellow.
-- Byung Hyuk
2. The second funny word of the day was "P.D.A.". One girl told me, "I like P.D.A.", which upon hearing that, I looked at her boyfriend beside her and started to giggle. The only P.D.A. I knew was "public displays of affection". Turns out the P.D.A. she was talking about was something similar to a palm pilot. Not too sure how much they got out of that lesson but I know they'll never forget the words fax, pecks and P.D.A.... hehehe. I love Korean students!!!
3. After school I met up with Byung Hyuk. Apparently before Kim Tae left for Australia, he gave Byung Hyuk a gift for me... a massive bottle of citron tea mix; I love citron tea!!! Thanks Kim Tae ;)
4. Byung Hyuk and I headed over to the tak galbi restaurant for some cheese tak galbi and a most interesting conversation revolving around "creative" English words... oh gosh! Apparently Byung Hyuk's bored with learning normal, everyday English and so he's resorted to asking me about slang and words that I was so shy saying I had to resort to text messaging them... hehehe.
5. Byung Hyuk is convinced that I have a nack for turning men crazy... Byung Ryang, Kim Tae, Sung Jung, Seo. He curiously asked me what my secret reciepe was for making men crazy and I asked him why he, after all this time, isn't crazy. His answer, "I'm not crazy... yet!"
6. At supper I wanted to tell Byung Hyuk about "Him" but I didn't. Instead, I lied. I'm not even sure why I lied, actually, I take that back... I know why I lied. About a month or so ago I sat down with Byung Hyuk and, in my frustration, I swore I wouldn't get involved with any guy for a long time. I just wanted to do my own thing and I was so done with the drama and issues with having a relationship. Honestly, I like being single. I like how people treat me differently, how I don't feel obligated to call anyone, I can just take off for the weekend without having to think about some one else's feelings or what not, and I like just being responsible for myself and not someone else's feelings. I much rather hangout at home with Mi Nam then get dressed up and go out with some dude. I rather just do my own thing... eat, sleep, teach, train -- repeat. And so, tonight I lied to Byung Hyuk and said that "He" and I are just friends. No sooner did the lie come out of my mouth but I totally regretted it. For starters, I really don't like lies and I consider Byung Hyuk to be very dear to me, and secondly, I wouldn't respect it if "He" told someone we are just friends. 
Another reason why I didn't tell him about "Him" was cause, well, I haven't had a real good record with dating dudes in Korea... cause of the whole "men going crazy" point Byung Hyuk claimed. I argue though that "He" is different. He's got a good job, isn't a student, has his own house, plays soccer on the weekends, boxes, studies English and is just an all-round good guy. His manners are really impressive and he treats me like a princess. Surprisingly enough, and I didn't think I'd ever say this, but, I like it. I like how he treats me. Our relationship is very relaxed and very innocent.
Another reason why I didn't tell him about "Him" was cause, well, I haven't had a real good record with dating dudes in Korea... cause of the whole "men going crazy" point Byung Hyuk claimed. I argue though that "He" is different. He's got a good job, isn't a student, has his own house, plays soccer on the weekends, boxes, studies English and is just an all-round good guy. His manners are really impressive and he treats me like a princess. Surprisingly enough, and I didn't think I'd ever say this, but, I like it. I like how he treats me. Our relationship is very relaxed and very innocent. 7. Headed off to boxing. Showed up all bundled in my sweater and Junior Mint made me train like that... with layers on. Ohh... so hot!
8. Came home, totally drenched in sweat, and received a phone call from "Him".... it was "Him" and his buddies actually, great. It was like a party line, everyone passing around the phone. For the rest of the evening they continued to call me. On a busy night, my phone will ring twice but tonight I got 5 phone calls.... they called me 5 times. Cause my friends here are all Korean, talking on the phone is almost impossible and so we only text message. My text message count is about 15-20 a day from friends.
9. Despite not really enjoying being disturbed from my Korean studies by some grown drunk men on the phone, I was somewhat flattered. I think "He's" all proud to have a girlfriend (that's me if you haven't already caught on) and so he wanted his friends to talk to me. They kept on calling me "His wife" and so that was kind of weird, but funny.
10. So cute... called my soldier buddy (Hyung Kyung) tonight but, because he's not allowed a cell phone on base, he had to hide under his bed cover to talk to me... hehehe. I had a good laugh at the mental picture of him, a full grown Korean hottie, hiding under his bed sheets with all his fellow soldiers around him wondering what the heck he was doing... hehehe. In my imagination, his bed sheets were pink with daisies on them, I don't know why. I know in the army they're probably green or some other "super manly-strong" colour... hehehe.
QUESTION OF THE DAY...
When are you coming to Cheonan?
QUOTE OF THE DAY...
Love is not a marsh mellow.
-- Byung Hyuk
Sunday, November 18, 2007
Highlights of my Day... November 18
1. Woke up and had absolutely no idea where I was. It was dark, I couldn’t feel Mi Nam lying beside me like usual, instead, I felt the wall to my left and heard the sound of someone breathing to my right. Then I realized… I was still at “His” house, lying on the floor.
2. I didn’t really sleep well after that though cause there’s something about sleeping at someone’s house that I just don’t find comfortable. I like my own floor mat, my boy Mi Nam cuddled up to me, and I especially only like the sound of Mi Nam’s snoring to fill my ears as I sleep. And so, I woke up with puffy eyes and instantly became the shyest girl in Cheonan, hiding my face so that “He” wouldn’t look at me. Got my answer to my question, “What are we doing, dating or hanging out?” As it turns out, I was SO wrong about him… he’s definitely into me, cool.
3. Finally, I arrived back in the comfort of my own home. Mi Nam greeted me with his usual overly-hyper jumps and licks to my face. There’s definitely a certain comfort and pleasure I get knowing that Mi Nam’s waiting at home for me… he’s my four-legged son… hehehe.
4. Later on “He” called me. We had promised to meet up and study together but mentioned the idea about eating dinner together. So, I came flying down the stairs and jumped in his truck. News flash… we’re going to dinner together, but so are an additional 12 dudes (his soccer team mates)!
5. Showed up with “Him” at the restaurant and I was quite intrigued that they didn’t seem shocked at the fact that I was a foreigner. No one asked me questions about where I’m from, my job, how long I’ve been in Korea, or etc. Later on though I found out that “He” has already told them ALL about me. His floor manager approached me and told me that “He” talks non-stop about me… interesting.
6. One of “His” team mates turned to me and asked me if we were a couple but before I could even try to answer, “He” blurted out “yes”… yes?! Hmmm… ok. They all laughed at my facial expression. I was quite shocked at his answer…. Hmmm.
7. I sat at the end of the table beside the only other girl present. She was the wife of one of the team members and had brought along their son, a cute pudgy little boy no older than about 1 & 1/2. I was a big hit with him!... too much of a hit though…. Hehehe. For the entire meal he cuddled up to me, sat on my lap, and played with my fingers. Everyone thought it was super cute until they tried to take him away from me and he repeatedly burst out in tears.
8. After stuffing myself with the seafood I tried to keep down and not choke on (I’m not a big fan of seafood!!!), we then went to one of “His” friend’s house where we then were offered more food…. more seafood. Seriously, eating moving food or food that smells worse than my feet isn’t what I exactly want to see on my plate. And so, I just sat there and stared at the “thing” on the plate. It looked like a mix between a skinned fish driven over a couple of times by a 4x4 and something Mi Nam hacked up, but the smell… oh gosh!
9. Studying at “His” house turned out to be somewhat productive… not really. I thought it cute that he tried to explain some Korean grammar rules to me cause he struggled with finding the appropriate English words.
10. Wow… what a weekend. I started the weekend not knowing what the heck was going on between us and now I definitely have some answers… but now I have more questions. I asked “Him” what he’d say if one of our team mates asked about us or, more importantly, if our coach inquired about us. He said he’d tell them the truth… and so lies my stress. Our secret could change everything… correction, it WILL change everything, and I don’t know if I’m ready for that.
QUESTION OF THE DAY...
Why do we always insist on making life so difficult?
QUOTE OF THE DAY...
Life was easier back when I thought boys were only good for opening jars.
-- my friend, L.R.
2. I didn’t really sleep well after that though cause there’s something about sleeping at someone’s house that I just don’t find comfortable. I like my own floor mat, my boy Mi Nam cuddled up to me, and I especially only like the sound of Mi Nam’s snoring to fill my ears as I sleep. And so, I woke up with puffy eyes and instantly became the shyest girl in Cheonan, hiding my face so that “He” wouldn’t look at me. Got my answer to my question, “What are we doing, dating or hanging out?” As it turns out, I was SO wrong about him… he’s definitely into me, cool.
3. Finally, I arrived back in the comfort of my own home. Mi Nam greeted me with his usual overly-hyper jumps and licks to my face. There’s definitely a certain comfort and pleasure I get knowing that Mi Nam’s waiting at home for me… he’s my four-legged son… hehehe.
4. Later on “He” called me. We had promised to meet up and study together but mentioned the idea about eating dinner together. So, I came flying down the stairs and jumped in his truck. News flash… we’re going to dinner together, but so are an additional 12 dudes (his soccer team mates)!
5. Showed up with “Him” at the restaurant and I was quite intrigued that they didn’t seem shocked at the fact that I was a foreigner. No one asked me questions about where I’m from, my job, how long I’ve been in Korea, or etc. Later on though I found out that “He” has already told them ALL about me. His floor manager approached me and told me that “He” talks non-stop about me… interesting.
6. One of “His” team mates turned to me and asked me if we were a couple but before I could even try to answer, “He” blurted out “yes”… yes?! Hmmm… ok. They all laughed at my facial expression. I was quite shocked at his answer…. Hmmm.
7. I sat at the end of the table beside the only other girl present. She was the wife of one of the team members and had brought along their son, a cute pudgy little boy no older than about 1 & 1/2. I was a big hit with him!... too much of a hit though…. Hehehe. For the entire meal he cuddled up to me, sat on my lap, and played with my fingers. Everyone thought it was super cute until they tried to take him away from me and he repeatedly burst out in tears.
8. After stuffing myself with the seafood I tried to keep down and not choke on (I’m not a big fan of seafood!!!), we then went to one of “His” friend’s house where we then were offered more food…. more seafood. Seriously, eating moving food or food that smells worse than my feet isn’t what I exactly want to see on my plate. And so, I just sat there and stared at the “thing” on the plate. It looked like a mix between a skinned fish driven over a couple of times by a 4x4 and something Mi Nam hacked up, but the smell… oh gosh!
9. Studying at “His” house turned out to be somewhat productive… not really. I thought it cute that he tried to explain some Korean grammar rules to me cause he struggled with finding the appropriate English words.
10. Wow… what a weekend. I started the weekend not knowing what the heck was going on between us and now I definitely have some answers… but now I have more questions. I asked “Him” what he’d say if one of our team mates asked about us or, more importantly, if our coach inquired about us. He said he’d tell them the truth… and so lies my stress. Our secret could change everything… correction, it WILL change everything, and I don’t know if I’m ready for that.
QUESTION OF THE DAY...
Why do we always insist on making life so difficult?
QUOTE OF THE DAY...
Life was easier back when I thought boys were only good for opening jars.
-- my friend, L.R.
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