1. Q's new English word of the day: forklift.
2. Q's word of the day, forklift, all came about after he told me and some friends that he had an electric car driving test today. At first I was a bit puzzled as to why he'd be thinking this would help all to his list of job qualifications but, whatever... I don't understand many things Koreans do and so I thought I'd just add this to the list. Turns out he meant forklift. We drove by one today and he commented about it. I instantly burst out into laughter. The best way I could think of to explain what an electric car was by telling him, "Back to the Future movie car".... hehehe.
3. Somehow, not too sure how but I'm guessing it's cause he's so darn cute, Q convinced me to eat beef for lunch. I asked the waitress if this was American beef, not to be funny,... actually, not to be anything really. I just wanted to know. Ouch... I tell ya though, if looks could kill!!!
4. Spent the next two hours curled up on the floor at Kyobo Books with Q and a good book, "Tuesdays with Morrie". Basically, the story is about a prized student who, much after graduation, learns that his favorite professor is now dying. I'm only about 2/3rds into the story and the storyline is quite touching but what I like most is the wording. The author uses a lot of imagery...
"... his sagging cheeks gathered up like curtains."
"... it [his skin] was loose, like skin hanging from a chicken bone."
"The culture we have does not make people feel good about themselves. And you have to be strong enough to say if the culture doesn't work, don't buy it."
5. Did some quick grocery shopping with Q. The deal was that I'd pay for the food if he cooked it... pretty sweet deal if you ask me. It meant for a really great dinner too. God knows if I was left to do the cooking for us that we would have eaten scrambled eggs and raw cucumbers... hehehe.
6. Apparently the theme of this week has been "serious" but isn't the week over?! It's been a very serious week, filled with loads of serious talking about serious issues and sporting some real serious feelings. Tonight was no different.
7. The word marriage stayed hot on our lips today but then it hit me today, marrying Q means marrying Korea. He joked and said, "Well, if I marry you, I also am marrying Mi Nam"... fair enough. Love me, love my dog. But Mi Nam is awesome and as awesome as Korea may be, a dog and country are not the same thing.
8. I gave Q two options: a (me) or b (friends/family). Now, before you get me wrong and think I'm making him unfairly pick between the two, let me explain, it's not that at all. I picked a (him) and so I've agree to stay in Korea with him... HOWEVER... there may be a time when I get too homesick to stay here and want to move back to Canada. So, when or if this happens, I want to know that he'll support me and decided WITH me on what to do, not restrict me from the start and say I must stay in Korea for good... forever. That's not fair. It was the luck of the draw that we met in Korea and not in Korea. If the situation we reversed, I'm sure that he'd expect the same from me. He'd want me to pick a. I know Q loves me more than I probably know, or will know, but I need to know that my happiness is happiness... I need to know he can pick a.
9. Right now, I don't think he can pick a and so, because of this, I am eagerly anticipating visiting Canada in the summer. I think me being out of sight will be kind of a reality check for him.
10. "Every time you go to Daejon to be with your family, remember, that's one less time I can see mine. Every time you meet with your friends and join them for celebrations, remember, that it's one less time I can do that. And every time you run to help your friends, remember, I can't do that."... he needs to understand this. He knows this but I don't think he can really digest the real value of my words.
QUESTION OF THE DAY...
Will he ever pick a?
QUOTE OF THE DAY...
The conception of two people living together for twenty-five years without having a cross word suggests a lack of spirit only to be admired in sheep.
-- Alan Patrick Herbert
As the story has it, one day I headed to the opposite side of the globe – the Flipside. I arrived in Korea February 16th, 2005 and thought I’d do a year, then leave. I was wrong. I stayed, launched my first company, Flipside Fitness, and then opened Korea's largest boxing club, Hulk's Boxing (now called Hulk's Club).
After 11.5yrs in Korea, I then picked up one day and returned to Toronto, Canada. But then I left again.
Now I live in the Philippines where I am the CEO and head coach of Empowered Clubhouse, the Philippines' first and only boxing clubhouse exclusively just for women. I also am the founder of the Lil' Sistas Project, CEO and designer of Slay Gear and Baa Baa Black Sheep .Ph.
2 comments:
I'm sure I must have said all of this before (so ignore if I'm sounding like a broken record, er...CD!), but where to live has always been the biggest problem in my intercultural relationship. And that's in spite of the fact that my husband doesn't have very strong ties to his family (they're not very close at all--never have been). When we got together, he always reassured me that he could live anywhere with me. I was honest and said I didn't think I could live in Korea forever (this was like two years in). I finally did resign myself (after 6 years) to life in Korea, but I wasn't completely happy. Then all of a sudden he decided he wanted to try life in the States. It hasn't been easy and there've been several times he's wanted to move back to Korea, but I think life would be a lot easier if we were in a place with more diversity and culture. I'm hoping one more year here and then maybe...Virginia. We'll see. I wish you lots of luck (if that's what it takes) to you and Q in figuring out your geographical concerns. It's hard, but it sounds like you're being realistic about probably not wanting to live in Korea forever.
Dear Beloved,
Wow... thanks for the insight and I am sorry for not responding earlier :(
It's funny, cause sometimes I have days when I am just totally in love with Korea... and then days were I miss Canada.
Q has this fanciful idea that in ten years we will have saved up enough money to travel to and from Korea as we please, spending about half our time in Canada and half in Korea.
That's awesome that your hubby decided that! Q is a very compassionate person and he's always trying to encourage me to make fond memories of Korea but I think if I got to that point where I was truely homesick, he'd consider moving with me. Right now he thinks the answer to my problem is learning the language. I think it's only a minor solution to a bigger problem; Korea could never replace Canada.
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