Her name is Deborah Straley, she's 42, a mother of two children and has a better body than MOST of us half her age!!! She's my new poster girl for motivating myself that eating clean and training hard is ALL worth it.
Monday, June 30, 2008
Highlights of my Day... Monday, June 30
1. Strolled into work to sign my final grade entries… felt so good but I know it’s STILL not over. I am long overdue for my vacation but now that students can officially see their marks online, I know they’ll be emailing me about their marks.
2. Low and behold but on my office desk was a big bag of goodies for Mi Nam, from Maddie and Amy. Amy is one of my coworkers who has just finished her contract, Maddie is her beautiful dog. I guess with all the mounds of things to pack, there was just no more room for Maddie’s treats and so today Mi Nam got a huge gift… sweet!!!
3. Having no air conditioner totally defeats showering.
4. I had plans to meet up with my friend, Pyoung, but after taking like forever to pick out what to wear and whatnot, I was in need of another shower.
5. Convincing the neighbor’s kid to come help me try to fix the air con turned out to only cause more problems, including a couple of broken glasses. Air conditioner is still broken.
6. Finally got on my way, left the house and made my way to Pyoungtaek where I was to meet Pyoung (Notice the relation between the name and the place?! Not one of my finer nicknames but it works). Pyoung is an American actually, unlike the rest of my friends. Actually, he’s part Japanese, part this, part that… he’s a mutt… hehehe. Now I know I work with foreigners but I tend to only keep one foreigner friend close by, and only one at a time. It seems that no sooner does one of my foreigner friends leave but then I meet another one. Pyoung is my most recent “encounters” with foreigners outside of work… hehehe.
7. With no real plans or idea of what to do, we decided to go to eat. A “Puffin Restaurant” sign had caught my eye and so I persuaded Pyoung to take me there. I love Puffin. There’s a Puffin in Songtan and so every time I go there I end up eating at Pufffin’s.
8. We ended up being quite the entertainment and interest among the wait staff. They were convinced we were celebrities and at one point our main waiter even asked me, “Excuse me, are you movie stars? We think yes!” I giggled and replied, “Sweetie, if we were movie stars, do you think we’d honestly tell you?” And on that note, for the rest of our dinner we were starred at, giggled over, approached by another waiter, and given many smiles… hehehe.
9. After a light dinner, we decided to walk around and find a cozy coffee shop where we could chit chat. Pyoung has only been in Korea for a couple of months now but he has already picked up a lot of the local slang and key expressions. I didn’t even know some of the slang, mind ya, they weren’t exactly sayings that I’d ever use, if you know what I mean.
10. One of the slang expressions he taught me was in reference to how many Korean men refer to white foreign women as being and so, when I returned to Cheonan to Q, I asked him about it. “Do you like white horses?” I asked him. He looked at me with surprise, giggled and then asked me how I knew about the term “white horse”. “I know a lot of things.” I said, “I am high IQ remember. I know things I shouldn’t even know!!!”… hehehe. Now I had already known about many Korean’s men strange fantasy and curiosity about foreign women but I didn’t know that they called us foreign white women “white horses”. I joked around with Q, calling him my “Black Stallion”… hehehe.
QUESTION OF THE DAY...
What else don't I know?
QUOTE OF THE DAY...
Secrets are things we give to others to keep for us.
-- Elbert G Hubbard
2. Low and behold but on my office desk was a big bag of goodies for Mi Nam, from Maddie and Amy. Amy is one of my coworkers who has just finished her contract, Maddie is her beautiful dog. I guess with all the mounds of things to pack, there was just no more room for Maddie’s treats and so today Mi Nam got a huge gift… sweet!!!
3. Having no air conditioner totally defeats showering.
4. I had plans to meet up with my friend, Pyoung, but after taking like forever to pick out what to wear and whatnot, I was in need of another shower.
5. Convincing the neighbor’s kid to come help me try to fix the air con turned out to only cause more problems, including a couple of broken glasses. Air conditioner is still broken.
6. Finally got on my way, left the house and made my way to Pyoungtaek where I was to meet Pyoung (Notice the relation between the name and the place?! Not one of my finer nicknames but it works). Pyoung is an American actually, unlike the rest of my friends. Actually, he’s part Japanese, part this, part that… he’s a mutt… hehehe. Now I know I work with foreigners but I tend to only keep one foreigner friend close by, and only one at a time. It seems that no sooner does one of my foreigner friends leave but then I meet another one. Pyoung is my most recent “encounters” with foreigners outside of work… hehehe.
7. With no real plans or idea of what to do, we decided to go to eat. A “Puffin Restaurant” sign had caught my eye and so I persuaded Pyoung to take me there. I love Puffin. There’s a Puffin in Songtan and so every time I go there I end up eating at Pufffin’s.
8. We ended up being quite the entertainment and interest among the wait staff. They were convinced we were celebrities and at one point our main waiter even asked me, “Excuse me, are you movie stars? We think yes!” I giggled and replied, “Sweetie, if we were movie stars, do you think we’d honestly tell you?” And on that note, for the rest of our dinner we were starred at, giggled over, approached by another waiter, and given many smiles… hehehe.
9. After a light dinner, we decided to walk around and find a cozy coffee shop where we could chit chat. Pyoung has only been in Korea for a couple of months now but he has already picked up a lot of the local slang and key expressions. I didn’t even know some of the slang, mind ya, they weren’t exactly sayings that I’d ever use, if you know what I mean.
10. One of the slang expressions he taught me was in reference to how many Korean men refer to white foreign women as being and so, when I returned to Cheonan to Q, I asked him about it. “Do you like white horses?” I asked him. He looked at me with surprise, giggled and then asked me how I knew about the term “white horse”. “I know a lot of things.” I said, “I am high IQ remember. I know things I shouldn’t even know!!!”… hehehe. Now I had already known about many Korean’s men strange fantasy and curiosity about foreign women but I didn’t know that they called us foreign white women “white horses”. I joked around with Q, calling him my “Black Stallion”… hehehe.
QUESTION OF THE DAY...
What else don't I know?
QUOTE OF THE DAY...
Secrets are things we give to others to keep for us.
-- Elbert G Hubbard
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Highlights of my Day... Sunday, June 29
1. Studying turned out to be real productive (note the sarcasm here… hehehe) with Q over. Five minutes into studying, he ended up passing out on the coach.
2. Sundays are officially my lazy day, filled with late mornings, afternoon naps, and vegging out in the evenings and I’m totally looking forward to greeting the next 9 Sundays with all-day mad bed head, morning breath and eye crusties in the afternoon, and no particular place to go except the fridge and the bathroom!!!
3. Sundays are also my main cleaning day and so today we scrubbed, washed, vacuumed, and cleaned the whole house. Q volunteered for the “lovely” job of taking my bathroom sink drain apart and unclogging the massive nasty clump of hair.
4. Students continue to hunt me down, via email, despite classes being long over. The irony being that it’s students who didn’t even so much say “boo” in class that are now bombarding my email account with long letters and pleading emails. “Sixteen weeks… sixteen weeks” I say, that’s how long they had to easily earn the passing mark that they NOW care about. Too much, too late.
5. Am seriously becoming addicted to kimchi jigga as today marked the third time this week that I’ve eaten it. Today we went to this tiny little restaurant where we once ate, like about 5 months ago. The manager happily greeted us at the door and went on about how he remembered us.
6. With Q coming over to my house practically every minute he possibly can, my grocery bill has officially doubled and now my fridge is packed the brim. Water bottles and food now sit by the fridge, waiting their turn to get in… hehehe.
7. Watch out for those walls, they tend to NOT move.. or so some Korean woman failed to realize as she crashed her car into the wall of Emart’s parking garage, sending her car flying from the sixth level. Seriously… I’m not joking here. That’s what happened today in Seoul. Some woman when barging through the wall and died in front of local traffic and so as a result parking security was at a high today at the stores. It’s pretty sad but honestly, what was she thinking?!!
8. Did the unthinkable… order a large pizza with Q and I ate half of it!!!
9. … and it felt sooooooooo good!!!
10. With my air conditioner still broken (been like that for a year… hehehe), tonight I felt like I was sticking to everything. Poor Mi Nam was panting like he had just run a marathon and so we were forced to carry the floor fan around with us. Korea summers are killer… and it’s only June, oh gosh!!!
QUESTION OF THE DAY...
Will I ever get bored of being bored?
QUOTE OF THE DAY...
We tend to forget that happiness doesn't come as a result of getting something we don't have, but rather of recognizing and appreciating what we do have.
-- Frederick Keonig
2. Sundays are officially my lazy day, filled with late mornings, afternoon naps, and vegging out in the evenings and I’m totally looking forward to greeting the next 9 Sundays with all-day mad bed head, morning breath and eye crusties in the afternoon, and no particular place to go except the fridge and the bathroom!!!
3. Sundays are also my main cleaning day and so today we scrubbed, washed, vacuumed, and cleaned the whole house. Q volunteered for the “lovely” job of taking my bathroom sink drain apart and unclogging the massive nasty clump of hair.
4. Students continue to hunt me down, via email, despite classes being long over. The irony being that it’s students who didn’t even so much say “boo” in class that are now bombarding my email account with long letters and pleading emails. “Sixteen weeks… sixteen weeks” I say, that’s how long they had to easily earn the passing mark that they NOW care about. Too much, too late.
5. Am seriously becoming addicted to kimchi jigga as today marked the third time this week that I’ve eaten it. Today we went to this tiny little restaurant where we once ate, like about 5 months ago. The manager happily greeted us at the door and went on about how he remembered us.
6. With Q coming over to my house practically every minute he possibly can, my grocery bill has officially doubled and now my fridge is packed the brim. Water bottles and food now sit by the fridge, waiting their turn to get in… hehehe.
7. Watch out for those walls, they tend to NOT move.. or so some Korean woman failed to realize as she crashed her car into the wall of Emart’s parking garage, sending her car flying from the sixth level. Seriously… I’m not joking here. That’s what happened today in Seoul. Some woman when barging through the wall and died in front of local traffic and so as a result parking security was at a high today at the stores. It’s pretty sad but honestly, what was she thinking?!!
8. Did the unthinkable… order a large pizza with Q and I ate half of it!!!
9. … and it felt sooooooooo good!!!
10. With my air conditioner still broken (been like that for a year… hehehe), tonight I felt like I was sticking to everything. Poor Mi Nam was panting like he had just run a marathon and so we were forced to carry the floor fan around with us. Korea summers are killer… and it’s only June, oh gosh!!!
QUESTION OF THE DAY...
Will I ever get bored of being bored?
QUOTE OF THE DAY...
We tend to forget that happiness doesn't come as a result of getting something we don't have, but rather of recognizing and appreciating what we do have.
-- Frederick Keonig
Saturday, June 28, 2008
Highlights of my Day... Saturday, June 28
1. With it raining in the morning, walking Mi Nam turned into quite the slip n’ slide and quite the messy situation when he decided to run and well, my legs weren’t quite ready to run… hehehe. The end result, a shower for two and one sore bum.
2. Junior Mint had told me to come to the club around 2pm to watch some fights on TV with him, some female fights that is, but what I saw wasn’t a fight. Instead, what I saw was discrimination at it’s peak.
3. Call it pride, call it home advantage,.. call it whatever you want, but no matter how you want to flower the word up or circle around the term, when it comes down to it, it is still discrimination so why don’t people just call it that.
4. I use to think that there was no right and no wrong way to look at things but now I’m seriously reconsidering that thought. There is a wrong and there is a right way to things, maybe not to all things but definitely to many things. Today, this was one of those things!!!
5. The first “fight”, as they called it, was between a female Chinese boxer and a female Korean boxer. The Korean girl was clearly NO match for the Chinese girl but after six rounds of her barely keeping herself on her feet and practically not able to even open her eyes, the Korean girl won. I was shocked… Junior Mint was shocked… the Korean girl who won even seemed somewhat shocked.
6. I didn’t stick around to watch the title match which was another Korean girl against another Chinese boxer. I already knew who was going to win and you know what, this wasn’t the first time this particular “champion female” has defended her title match by fighting a foreigner which really makes me wonder, did she really win those matches?!!!
7. I was so ticked, so ticked that I barely got through my heavy bag exercises. I pounded away at the sand bag, hoping that what was so clearly discrimination was only just a coincidence. I knew it wasn’t though and I know of 23 other fights that prove my point.
8. Q met up with me later on but I still hadn’t relaxed and so I sat at dinner with a long face on and said not a word… then it all came out. I spilled my beans to him. Q’s awesomeness clearly doesn’t stop at his amazing level of patience and dedication to me, it goes beyond that. Although he may not see eye-to-eye with me about the baby issue he does however see me as a person and not a foreigner which says a lot about him… a LOT! He agreed, discrimination was definitely at play today. He tried to cheer me up by telling me that I am different. I'm not some visiting boxer here for a match; I live here, train here, box here, have a team here... but does that really matter, I ask. I mean, in addition to having to step in the ring and fight my opponent, I also have to fight discrimination among the judges. Q and I both think that the way to get over this discrimination is to get the crowd on my side and win over their popularity. That's where my appearance on KBS and Airrang, my newspaper interviews, my homepage, and my attendance at every and any boxing related event whether that be a dinner party or actual match is important. I have to make my face and name more know. I have to make them see that I am not just another foreigner boxer; I am one of THEIR boxers.
9. Running into my friend, the Hongik Oppa, definitely helped to turn today’s frown upside down. I haven’t seen him since I changed fitness gyms and so he gave me a shake of the head for that. Turns out he’s taken over Hongik and is no longer just the main squash coach, now he’s also the manager and owner of Hongik. I told him I like my new gym, La Sya, but him offering me a 50% discount on a Hongik membership, hmmm… I think I can like Hongik again… hehehe.
10. Dinner turned into a dinner and a movie and dinner and a movie turned into me re-enacting movie scenes in the parking lot. I thought it’d be funny to pretend I was Jolie in “Wanted”, this is until I think I pulled a muscle… hehehe.
QUESTION OF THE DAY...
If people think they're not doing anything wrong, they why do they try so hard to cover up things?
QUOTE OF THE DAY...
Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself.
-- Leo Tolstoy
2. Junior Mint had told me to come to the club around 2pm to watch some fights on TV with him, some female fights that is, but what I saw wasn’t a fight. Instead, what I saw was discrimination at it’s peak.
3. Call it pride, call it home advantage,.. call it whatever you want, but no matter how you want to flower the word up or circle around the term, when it comes down to it, it is still discrimination so why don’t people just call it that.
4. I use to think that there was no right and no wrong way to look at things but now I’m seriously reconsidering that thought. There is a wrong and there is a right way to things, maybe not to all things but definitely to many things. Today, this was one of those things!!!
5. The first “fight”, as they called it, was between a female Chinese boxer and a female Korean boxer. The Korean girl was clearly NO match for the Chinese girl but after six rounds of her barely keeping herself on her feet and practically not able to even open her eyes, the Korean girl won. I was shocked… Junior Mint was shocked… the Korean girl who won even seemed somewhat shocked.
6. I didn’t stick around to watch the title match which was another Korean girl against another Chinese boxer. I already knew who was going to win and you know what, this wasn’t the first time this particular “champion female” has defended her title match by fighting a foreigner which really makes me wonder, did she really win those matches?!!!
7. I was so ticked, so ticked that I barely got through my heavy bag exercises. I pounded away at the sand bag, hoping that what was so clearly discrimination was only just a coincidence. I knew it wasn’t though and I know of 23 other fights that prove my point.
8. Q met up with me later on but I still hadn’t relaxed and so I sat at dinner with a long face on and said not a word… then it all came out. I spilled my beans to him. Q’s awesomeness clearly doesn’t stop at his amazing level of patience and dedication to me, it goes beyond that. Although he may not see eye-to-eye with me about the baby issue he does however see me as a person and not a foreigner which says a lot about him… a LOT! He agreed, discrimination was definitely at play today. He tried to cheer me up by telling me that I am different. I'm not some visiting boxer here for a match; I live here, train here, box here, have a team here... but does that really matter, I ask. I mean, in addition to having to step in the ring and fight my opponent, I also have to fight discrimination among the judges. Q and I both think that the way to get over this discrimination is to get the crowd on my side and win over their popularity. That's where my appearance on KBS and Airrang, my newspaper interviews, my homepage, and my attendance at every and any boxing related event whether that be a dinner party or actual match is important. I have to make my face and name more know. I have to make them see that I am not just another foreigner boxer; I am one of THEIR boxers.
9. Running into my friend, the Hongik Oppa, definitely helped to turn today’s frown upside down. I haven’t seen him since I changed fitness gyms and so he gave me a shake of the head for that. Turns out he’s taken over Hongik and is no longer just the main squash coach, now he’s also the manager and owner of Hongik. I told him I like my new gym, La Sya, but him offering me a 50% discount on a Hongik membership, hmmm… I think I can like Hongik again… hehehe.
10. Dinner turned into a dinner and a movie and dinner and a movie turned into me re-enacting movie scenes in the parking lot. I thought it’d be funny to pretend I was Jolie in “Wanted”, this is until I think I pulled a muscle… hehehe.
QUESTION OF THE DAY...
If people think they're not doing anything wrong, they why do they try so hard to cover up things?
QUOTE OF THE DAY...
Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself.
-- Leo Tolstoy
Friday, June 27, 2008
Highlights of my Day... Friday, June 27
1. More student meetings meant more begging students, more bribes and yet, more marks that I wasn’t about to change. “You didn’t do the homework, you didn’t do the midterm or the final exam, and you didn’t do the in-class presentation, so give me one good reason why I shouldn’t fail you.” I said.
2. “… because I am cute” was what she replied with and on that note I shook my head, gave a giggle and asked her to leave.
3. Slaved away yesterday at my professional portfolio only to forget it at home today… nuts! Nuts, nuts, nuts!!! This means I’ll have to come back on Monday to drop it off.
4. Professional portfolio: course syllabus, lecture notes, Power Point screens printed out (6 screens per page), quizzes, copies of the midterm and final exam, extra handouts, and the in-class presentation outline… A hundred and thirty pages that shows exactly what I did in class this last semester (past 16 weeks).
5. And to think, I have to do this all over next semester. Every semester a new course so every semester another portfolio.
6. The boxing club was booming today with high school students and numerous other amateur boxers. Little Miss Sunshine was there and so I got my usual back massage and thumbs up from her… hehehe.
7. Ahhh… gotta love the high school boys for their naive and gullible thinking. Apparently all it takes is ice cream (which costs about 50 cents at the local GS store) to get them whaling away at each other round after round in the ring…. Hehehe.
8. Tonight Q was double-booked for the evening. He was expected to show up at his work’s dinner party and our club’s boxing dinner party. He promised he’d only be an hour with his coworkers but one hour turned into two… and then almost three. I was ready for 9pm, like he had promised, but then I lost interest around 10:30pm and so I went out for a walk with Mi Nam.
9. Met the biggest dog I have seen on this side of the globe… he looked like a horse!!! I think he’s a bull mastiff and with a head quite larger than mine, a drooling mouth, and his strong physic, I felt quite intimidated when I turned the corner and there he stood, looking at us. I’ve been living down the street for him for years but have never seen or heard him but there he was. Turns out he’s the guard dog for one of the local hotel’s parking lot. Mi Nam was spooked at the sight of him. He jumped up and down, barked and his hair stood on end. As for the other dog, the massive mastiff, he could care less about Mi Nam. I think it’s cause he out sized Mi Nam like a hundred times… hehehe.
10. Finally Q showed up but by then I was more interested in going back to see the mastiff then trek off to a dinner party that I was now three hours late for. We ended up doing both but on our way to meet some of our team mates we ran into Junior Mint… yikes. Q took a public beating for making me so late and for making us miss the dinner. By the time we met up with Black Skinny and some of the other boxers, I was tired and so I made Q promise me we’d only be there 30 minutes. The deal was that if we stayed longer than 30 minutes he’d have to give me a back massage. We stayed EXACTLY thirty minutes… but, I still got my massage ;)
QUESTION OF THE DAY...
If common sense isn't so common, then what can we call it?
QUOTE OF THE DAY...
Stupid is forever, ignorance can be fixed.
-- Don Wood
2. “… because I am cute” was what she replied with and on that note I shook my head, gave a giggle and asked her to leave.
3. Slaved away yesterday at my professional portfolio only to forget it at home today… nuts! Nuts, nuts, nuts!!! This means I’ll have to come back on Monday to drop it off.
4. Professional portfolio: course syllabus, lecture notes, Power Point screens printed out (6 screens per page), quizzes, copies of the midterm and final exam, extra handouts, and the in-class presentation outline… A hundred and thirty pages that shows exactly what I did in class this last semester (past 16 weeks).
5. And to think, I have to do this all over next semester. Every semester a new course so every semester another portfolio.
6. The boxing club was booming today with high school students and numerous other amateur boxers. Little Miss Sunshine was there and so I got my usual back massage and thumbs up from her… hehehe.
7. Ahhh… gotta love the high school boys for their naive and gullible thinking. Apparently all it takes is ice cream (which costs about 50 cents at the local GS store) to get them whaling away at each other round after round in the ring…. Hehehe.
8. Tonight Q was double-booked for the evening. He was expected to show up at his work’s dinner party and our club’s boxing dinner party. He promised he’d only be an hour with his coworkers but one hour turned into two… and then almost three. I was ready for 9pm, like he had promised, but then I lost interest around 10:30pm and so I went out for a walk with Mi Nam.
9. Met the biggest dog I have seen on this side of the globe… he looked like a horse!!! I think he’s a bull mastiff and with a head quite larger than mine, a drooling mouth, and his strong physic, I felt quite intimidated when I turned the corner and there he stood, looking at us. I’ve been living down the street for him for years but have never seen or heard him but there he was. Turns out he’s the guard dog for one of the local hotel’s parking lot. Mi Nam was spooked at the sight of him. He jumped up and down, barked and his hair stood on end. As for the other dog, the massive mastiff, he could care less about Mi Nam. I think it’s cause he out sized Mi Nam like a hundred times… hehehe.
10. Finally Q showed up but by then I was more interested in going back to see the mastiff then trek off to a dinner party that I was now three hours late for. We ended up doing both but on our way to meet some of our team mates we ran into Junior Mint… yikes. Q took a public beating for making me so late and for making us miss the dinner. By the time we met up with Black Skinny and some of the other boxers, I was tired and so I made Q promise me we’d only be there 30 minutes. The deal was that if we stayed longer than 30 minutes he’d have to give me a back massage. We stayed EXACTLY thirty minutes… but, I still got my massage ;)
QUESTION OF THE DAY...
If common sense isn't so common, then what can we call it?
QUOTE OF THE DAY...
Stupid is forever, ignorance can be fixed.
-- Don Wood
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Highlights of my Day... Thursday, June 26
1. Final marks are due tomorrow and so I told my students if they wanted to discuss their mark than today and tomorrow would be their last chance to do so. And so, on that note, I hung out at the office today for a couple of hours.
2. Confrontations today with two of my sports students who thought they’d barge into my office and all in my face about getting a low grade. I was shocked by their rude manners and so I told them to rethink their manners, leave and come back in when they’re able to talk to me with respect. I am not their buddy who they can talk so rudely to and I know for a fact that if I were a Korean prof they wouldn’t dare talk to me like that. So, they left the office and came back in a couple of minutes later.
3. According to one of my coworkers, four years ago at my university two professors were caught changing grades, giving the top 30% in their classes A's and so forth. One professor ended up quitting and the other got fired, if I remember correctly. Now I know that my university has a restriction on how many A's and B's you can give (totally 70% of the classes attendance) and whether or not I agree with this rule is not the point here. The point is that after four years, we're still suffering from the situation these two professors made. The two sports students had come to argue about this “top 30% in class get an automatic A” fanciful thinking that stemmed from those two professors. Common sense, which I noted before is obviously not so common, would have told them that this is impossible. Eighteen out of my twenty-six sports students failed…. FAILED! So, if we went by this automatic A idea, this would mean that many of those failed grades would be an A…. ?!!! What?!!!
4. I love it how students had 16 WEEKS to work for, earn and prove that they deserved a certain mark and yet now, when classes are over, now do they all of a sudden put worth the effort and concern towards their mark. It just blows my mind.
5. Today one of my students came to argue her mark and beg for me to throw her ten extra percent so that she could pass the class. She even came with a back-up team of two but what shocked me the most was when she opened her mouth… long, complicated and complex sentences flowed out of her mouth with such ease. She hadn’t said a word throughout the whole semester and didn’t even show up for the final exam but there she was, speaking in fluent English. Too much…. Too late.
6. Marks are marks and students had plenty of chances and time to earn them and so as much as I do really admire my students, I really have no pity for those who come begging at the end of the semester. As far as I am concerned, those who beg and who make silly arguments, like the sports students with their automatic A thinking, really don’t deserve the mark their pleading for.
7. And so after only a couple of hours of listening to various students’ song and dances, I decided I was going to go home and gear up for boxing.
8. Turns out Junior Mint was having a rough day too and so he ended up taking it out on me and frustrating the heck out of me. During pad work he really drilled me, hitting me whenever I dropped my guard. Hitting,… no, full-on smacking the heck out of the side of my head is more like it. By the end of our pad work, my left ear was beat red and my head was pounding.
9. Q was there to see the whole thing go down, as were many of my team mates. Q approached me after and asked me if I was OK. I felt so dizzy but said I was OK. After training Q and I went back to my house. I really wasn’t in the mood to deal with the whole “baby issue” again and so when Q turned to me and told me that he picked me, I felt somewhat relieved. I still feel a bit uncomfortable, knowing that he didn’t just pick me from the get-go. I’m sure my feeling will change but, for now, I just feel like … the runner up.
10. On a happier note, I ended up cooking Q that romantic candlelight pasta dinner I had anticipated the other day. He stood and watched as cooked. It was the first time he had seen me cook and so to fool him into believing I really know how to cook, I showed off my cutting skills with the veggies, added milk and about a million and one spices into the sauce, added crunched crackers as bread crumbs, and examined the cooking pasta like it was a work of art.... hehehe. The real deal breaker though was dessert… jello… hehehe. He’s never eaten jello before and so he kept on asking me, “How did you make this? So great!”, upon which I told him it was a family secret… hehehehe.
QUESTION OF THE DAY...
What kind of student were you in school?
QUOTE OF THE DAY...
Everyone has inside of him a piece of good news. The good news is that you don't know how great you can be! How much you can love! What you can accomplish! And what your potential is!
-- Anne Frank
2. Confrontations today with two of my sports students who thought they’d barge into my office and all in my face about getting a low grade. I was shocked by their rude manners and so I told them to rethink their manners, leave and come back in when they’re able to talk to me with respect. I am not their buddy who they can talk so rudely to and I know for a fact that if I were a Korean prof they wouldn’t dare talk to me like that. So, they left the office and came back in a couple of minutes later.
3. According to one of my coworkers, four years ago at my university two professors were caught changing grades, giving the top 30% in their classes A's and so forth. One professor ended up quitting and the other got fired, if I remember correctly. Now I know that my university has a restriction on how many A's and B's you can give (totally 70% of the classes attendance) and whether or not I agree with this rule is not the point here. The point is that after four years, we're still suffering from the situation these two professors made. The two sports students had come to argue about this “top 30% in class get an automatic A” fanciful thinking that stemmed from those two professors. Common sense, which I noted before is obviously not so common, would have told them that this is impossible. Eighteen out of my twenty-six sports students failed…. FAILED! So, if we went by this automatic A idea, this would mean that many of those failed grades would be an A…. ?!!! What?!!!
4. I love it how students had 16 WEEKS to work for, earn and prove that they deserved a certain mark and yet now, when classes are over, now do they all of a sudden put worth the effort and concern towards their mark. It just blows my mind.
5. Today one of my students came to argue her mark and beg for me to throw her ten extra percent so that she could pass the class. She even came with a back-up team of two but what shocked me the most was when she opened her mouth… long, complicated and complex sentences flowed out of her mouth with such ease. She hadn’t said a word throughout the whole semester and didn’t even show up for the final exam but there she was, speaking in fluent English. Too much…. Too late.
6. Marks are marks and students had plenty of chances and time to earn them and so as much as I do really admire my students, I really have no pity for those who come begging at the end of the semester. As far as I am concerned, those who beg and who make silly arguments, like the sports students with their automatic A thinking, really don’t deserve the mark their pleading for.
7. And so after only a couple of hours of listening to various students’ song and dances, I decided I was going to go home and gear up for boxing.
8. Turns out Junior Mint was having a rough day too and so he ended up taking it out on me and frustrating the heck out of me. During pad work he really drilled me, hitting me whenever I dropped my guard. Hitting,… no, full-on smacking the heck out of the side of my head is more like it. By the end of our pad work, my left ear was beat red and my head was pounding.
9. Q was there to see the whole thing go down, as were many of my team mates. Q approached me after and asked me if I was OK. I felt so dizzy but said I was OK. After training Q and I went back to my house. I really wasn’t in the mood to deal with the whole “baby issue” again and so when Q turned to me and told me that he picked me, I felt somewhat relieved. I still feel a bit uncomfortable, knowing that he didn’t just pick me from the get-go. I’m sure my feeling will change but, for now, I just feel like … the runner up.
10. On a happier note, I ended up cooking Q that romantic candlelight pasta dinner I had anticipated the other day. He stood and watched as cooked. It was the first time he had seen me cook and so to fool him into believing I really know how to cook, I showed off my cutting skills with the veggies, added milk and about a million and one spices into the sauce, added crunched crackers as bread crumbs, and examined the cooking pasta like it was a work of art.... hehehe. The real deal breaker though was dessert… jello… hehehe. He’s never eaten jello before and so he kept on asking me, “How did you make this? So great!”, upon which I told him it was a family secret… hehehehe.
QUESTION OF THE DAY...
What kind of student were you in school?
QUOTE OF THE DAY...
Everyone has inside of him a piece of good news. The good news is that you don't know how great you can be! How much you can love! What you can accomplish! And what your potential is!
-- Anne Frank
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Highlights of my Day... Wednesday, June 25
1. Day 2 of feeling blah and so I canceled my Korean language tutoring.
2. Day 2 of the whole "a or b" baby argument with Q... still no conclusion, just a lot of text messages and a bunch of upsetting late night phone calls.
3. It was the day after my TV appearance on "Love in Asia" but already people have started to approach me about it... very funny but strange having random strangers call my name.
4. First it was one of the Sambu maintenance men who called out to me. I had just woken up and was taking Mi Nam out for "potty business" when all of a sudden the maintenance man came running out the building and yelled, "Amy! Fighting!!!". Next it was the cell phone dude that sees me every day when I head off to boxing. As I passed by him today however, he turned to me and said, "Oh ya..... pro boxer Amy!"
5. Hung around the house most of the day with Mi Nam. He's going to hate it when I go back to work, I just know it. With ten weeks off and him being my faithful sidekick here, he literally is by my side almost 24/7 lately... hehehe.
6. Lately I've been listening to a lot of oldies... but goodies. They're just feel good songs. Anyway, do you know The Shangri-Las?!!! I decided to use one of their songs for a music video I want to do next week but getting my hands on a copy of this particular song has been impossible. Bear Share bites... hehehehe.
7. Sorry Wonder Girls, you dancing Korean booties may be fun to try to dance along but The Shangri-Las have you beat!!! If you ask me, the Wonder Girls kind of remind me of the Spice Girls... way over hyped and full of cheeky girls a bit too over the top. Don't get me wrong, they sing fun songs but there's no real substance.... I guess that what pop culture is about though...hmmm.
8. Talking about being beat... leads to my next highlight of my day, getting beats at boxing. Was feeling a bit better later in the early evening and so I headed into boxing only to be totally drilled by Junior Mint. He seems to love standing on my stomach, apparently. And yes, after awhile it does hurt!
9. Junior Mint wasn't too impressed that KBS had cut out Panty Boy Jr.'s interview, but he didn't seem too mad either, I was surprised. My team mates at the club all joked about me being on the show and teased me, calling me "Amy Star" and joked about wanting my autograph... hehehe.
10. After returning home from training, I decided to take Mi Nam out for his late night walk and who should I run into while still looking all sweaty and smelly from boxing.... the Sambu Hyun Bin. And, as it turns out, he too saw me on KBS1 the other day... great. I passed him as he entered the elevator and I exited so not much was said but he did manage to blurt out "nice cooking pro box"... what's that supposed to mean?! I guess he's referring to the fact that the lunch they filmed me cooking consisted of only egg whites and tomatoes, a meal that could hardly be considered cooking let alone a meal... hehehe.
QUESTION OF THE DAY...
Are tomatoes a fruit or veggie?
QUOTE OF THE DAY...
Those that have to sell themselves aren't worth buying.
-- Author Unknown
2. Day 2 of the whole "a or b" baby argument with Q... still no conclusion, just a lot of text messages and a bunch of upsetting late night phone calls.
3. It was the day after my TV appearance on "Love in Asia" but already people have started to approach me about it... very funny but strange having random strangers call my name.
4. First it was one of the Sambu maintenance men who called out to me. I had just woken up and was taking Mi Nam out for "potty business" when all of a sudden the maintenance man came running out the building and yelled, "Amy! Fighting!!!". Next it was the cell phone dude that sees me every day when I head off to boxing. As I passed by him today however, he turned to me and said, "Oh ya..... pro boxer Amy!"
5. Hung around the house most of the day with Mi Nam. He's going to hate it when I go back to work, I just know it. With ten weeks off and him being my faithful sidekick here, he literally is by my side almost 24/7 lately... hehehe.
6. Lately I've been listening to a lot of oldies... but goodies. They're just feel good songs. Anyway, do you know The Shangri-Las?!!! I decided to use one of their songs for a music video I want to do next week but getting my hands on a copy of this particular song has been impossible. Bear Share bites... hehehehe.
7. Sorry Wonder Girls, you dancing Korean booties may be fun to try to dance along but The Shangri-Las have you beat!!! If you ask me, the Wonder Girls kind of remind me of the Spice Girls... way over hyped and full of cheeky girls a bit too over the top. Don't get me wrong, they sing fun songs but there's no real substance.... I guess that what pop culture is about though...hmmm.
8. Talking about being beat... leads to my next highlight of my day, getting beats at boxing. Was feeling a bit better later in the early evening and so I headed into boxing only to be totally drilled by Junior Mint. He seems to love standing on my stomach, apparently. And yes, after awhile it does hurt!
9. Junior Mint wasn't too impressed that KBS had cut out Panty Boy Jr.'s interview, but he didn't seem too mad either, I was surprised. My team mates at the club all joked about me being on the show and teased me, calling me "Amy Star" and joked about wanting my autograph... hehehe.
10. After returning home from training, I decided to take Mi Nam out for his late night walk and who should I run into while still looking all sweaty and smelly from boxing.... the Sambu Hyun Bin. And, as it turns out, he too saw me on KBS1 the other day... great. I passed him as he entered the elevator and I exited so not much was said but he did manage to blurt out "nice cooking pro box"... what's that supposed to mean?! I guess he's referring to the fact that the lunch they filmed me cooking consisted of only egg whites and tomatoes, a meal that could hardly be considered cooking let alone a meal... hehehe.
QUESTION OF THE DAY...
Are tomatoes a fruit or veggie?
QUOTE OF THE DAY...
Those that have to sell themselves aren't worth buying.
-- Author Unknown
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Highlights of my Day... Tuesday, June 24
1. Today was the day of my much anticipated episode of “Love in Asia” and so I trained early in hopes of having enough time to make a romantic pasta dinner for Q and I while we watched me on TV.
2. What wasn’t anticipated however, was me being so sick today. Woke up sweating my brains out and feeling like I had just got kicked in the stomach. I joked with Q, saying that it was his fault cause he had bought that silly lotto ticket after dreaming we had a baby.
3. Am convinced I got sick from the cheap eggs that I bought at GS 25 the other day. They had smelt kind of funny but I scarfed them down anyways.
4. Heading into training today with a stomach that I’m convinced was growling louder than the club music, was definitely not a good idea. I got through my training, barely. Mind ya, ended up puking afterwards… not fun.
5. Ended up heading back to bed. I scooped Mi Nam up in my arms and went for a late afternoon nap.
6. Our late afternoon nap ended up turning into a 4 hour nap and I was awaken by the sound of Q opening my door and taking off his shoes. “So much for our romantic dinner”, I thought. I really wasn’t hungry anyways but I knew he was. Ended up getting call food.
7. Watching myself on TV was quite amusing but being a perfectionist and the stubborn mule that I often can be, I was a bit disappointed with KBS1 for their poor editing and whatnot. Besides getting my boyfriend and my boxing club’s names wrong, they left out some key things and instead filled in the time with some pretty mundane things, one of which was an interview with a failing student in my class and the silly tree in my apartment. Moreover, apparently whoever did the editing must know little to none about boxing. They had interviewed Panty Boy Jr. but totally cut him out of the episode… anyone who knows anything about boxing in Korea knows him. He’s like the younger Korean version of Golden Boy and so I know tomorrow I’ll be getting an earful at training.
8. I know, I know… it’s only 10 minutes long and so it’s hard to edit but I came across as a kind of tough smarta$$ who goes around punching guys, including my boyfriend. I mean, they were quite interested in showing my tattoo but totally took out the reason why I got it, which is a huge part of why I came to Korea… to start a new life. Considering the fact that my boyfriend’s family, friends, and my coworkers don’t even know I have it, I really wish they had gone about it differently. Why I came to Korea is kind of an important thing, don’t you agree? I didn’t just come here on a whim. But enough complaining…. Sorry. That’s the perfectionist in me, I guess. When it’s all said and done though, it was pretty cool being on the show. The filming was kind of strange at times but I did really like the crew. I think had the crew not had been as cool as they were, it would have been a totally different experience… special thanks to you Jaz! You’re seriously one cool gal!
9. Later on in the evening a real-life drama broke out in my house… it wasn’t pretty, let me tell ya that! I know Q tries his best to understand my point of view, and much love to him for that, but sometimes he is just “so Korean”… I’d hate to say that but it’s true. Here I am, in HIS country, eating HIS country’s food, wearing HIS country’s fashion styles, learning HIS country’s language and HIS country’s culture… when do I get to do MY country’s things?! Oh, when I go on holidays?! Nice. Anyway, tonight’s drama was about Q insisting that one day we’ll have a baby. He said he was shocked at the Pension City to find out that I didn’t like children. “No, that wasn’t about me not liking children” I proclaimed, “that was about children and bad parents!” I like children, seriously, I do. I admire their innocence and sweetness but that doesn’t mean I want one. I'm just not one of those girls that wants to be a mother, but why does that make me to be the bad person?
“Why do you want a child?” I asked him.
“Because I love you. Child looks like you and me.” He stated.
“If you want something that looks like you and me take a picture of us!” I added.
I know this is the Korean way; get married, have a baby. But I am not Korean.
10. And so, on that note, I gave Q two options: a. a baby, b. me. I figured it was a pretty easy thing to pick, after all, I was faced with picking a. Canada or b. him and I picked him. I picked him over my home, my family, my friends, my comfort,.. everything and anything I left behind in Canada, I picked him over it ALL. He said he wanted both a and b. I told him that wasn't fair and he was being selfish about his decision. Moreover, I felt pretty insulted that it was so easy for me to pick him over MANY things and yet he couldn't even pick me over a person he hasn't even met yet. I don't want more than just him. "I want someone who'll pick me. I think that's fair and so if you can't pick me than I don't want to pick you anymore" I mumbled. And then he left.
QUESTION OF THE DAY...
Why does he want more than me?
QUOTE OF THE DAY...
Raising kids is part joy and part guerilla warfare.
-- Ed Asner quote
2. What wasn’t anticipated however, was me being so sick today. Woke up sweating my brains out and feeling like I had just got kicked in the stomach. I joked with Q, saying that it was his fault cause he had bought that silly lotto ticket after dreaming we had a baby.
3. Am convinced I got sick from the cheap eggs that I bought at GS 25 the other day. They had smelt kind of funny but I scarfed them down anyways.
4. Heading into training today with a stomach that I’m convinced was growling louder than the club music, was definitely not a good idea. I got through my training, barely. Mind ya, ended up puking afterwards… not fun.
5. Ended up heading back to bed. I scooped Mi Nam up in my arms and went for a late afternoon nap.
6. Our late afternoon nap ended up turning into a 4 hour nap and I was awaken by the sound of Q opening my door and taking off his shoes. “So much for our romantic dinner”, I thought. I really wasn’t hungry anyways but I knew he was. Ended up getting call food.
7. Watching myself on TV was quite amusing but being a perfectionist and the stubborn mule that I often can be, I was a bit disappointed with KBS1 for their poor editing and whatnot. Besides getting my boyfriend and my boxing club’s names wrong, they left out some key things and instead filled in the time with some pretty mundane things, one of which was an interview with a failing student in my class and the silly tree in my apartment. Moreover, apparently whoever did the editing must know little to none about boxing. They had interviewed Panty Boy Jr. but totally cut him out of the episode… anyone who knows anything about boxing in Korea knows him. He’s like the younger Korean version of Golden Boy and so I know tomorrow I’ll be getting an earful at training.
8. I know, I know… it’s only 10 minutes long and so it’s hard to edit but I came across as a kind of tough smarta$$ who goes around punching guys, including my boyfriend. I mean, they were quite interested in showing my tattoo but totally took out the reason why I got it, which is a huge part of why I came to Korea… to start a new life. Considering the fact that my boyfriend’s family, friends, and my coworkers don’t even know I have it, I really wish they had gone about it differently. Why I came to Korea is kind of an important thing, don’t you agree? I didn’t just come here on a whim. But enough complaining…. Sorry. That’s the perfectionist in me, I guess. When it’s all said and done though, it was pretty cool being on the show. The filming was kind of strange at times but I did really like the crew. I think had the crew not had been as cool as they were, it would have been a totally different experience… special thanks to you Jaz! You’re seriously one cool gal!
9. Later on in the evening a real-life drama broke out in my house… it wasn’t pretty, let me tell ya that! I know Q tries his best to understand my point of view, and much love to him for that, but sometimes he is just “so Korean”… I’d hate to say that but it’s true. Here I am, in HIS country, eating HIS country’s food, wearing HIS country’s fashion styles, learning HIS country’s language and HIS country’s culture… when do I get to do MY country’s things?! Oh, when I go on holidays?! Nice. Anyway, tonight’s drama was about Q insisting that one day we’ll have a baby. He said he was shocked at the Pension City to find out that I didn’t like children. “No, that wasn’t about me not liking children” I proclaimed, “that was about children and bad parents!” I like children, seriously, I do. I admire their innocence and sweetness but that doesn’t mean I want one. I'm just not one of those girls that wants to be a mother, but why does that make me to be the bad person?
“Why do you want a child?” I asked him.
“Because I love you. Child looks like you and me.” He stated.
“If you want something that looks like you and me take a picture of us!” I added.
I know this is the Korean way; get married, have a baby. But I am not Korean.
Top Ten Reasons why I Don’t want a Baby:
1. My exercising and training is a HUGE part of my life that I am not willing to give up or put aside. My team mates at the club are like my family and so not training with them but hearing about them training would totally depress me.
2. Physically, my body is unable to bear a child and, unlike many people, I don't want to go through years of doctor testing, hospital bill spending, and stress only to come out with an empty wallet, empty crib, killed nerves, bruised patience and a relationship that has been weakened because of it all.
3. Everything changes when you have a child… everything! I love my life but sometimes feel like I still haven't fully adjusted to the Korean way of things so why would I want to change it when my life still hasn't settled in?!!!
4. My life is challenging enough here with having to study the language and learn the culture, adding a baby in my life would just further complicate things and give me so much stress.
5. I rather have another dog.
6. A baby is time, money and effort… that’s time, money and effort I am not willing to give. I like sleeping in late and freely going about my day. I like not pushing the pay check and buying whatever. I like just being responsible for me and Mi Nam.
7. My job doesn’t exactly have maternity leave as an option and I really don’t want to risk losing my job cause, well, it’s a pretty sweet job!
8. Having a child means hanging out with other mothers and their children… Pension City (aka weekend in Hell) all over again… and again, and again!!! No thanks!
9. I’m sure my parents and family would feel pretty rotten and sad knowing that I am way the heck over here raising a baby without their help. Already I am
feeling this with my oldest brother’s baby. Since she’s been born I’ve met her twice and so it’s uncomfortable and sad to know that she knows her local mailman more than me, her own aunt.10. I’m sorry but I just don’t want to raise a child in Korea. I understand the pressures they put on children with regards to schooling (hagwan after hagwan and being hit in the public schools by the teachers) and I don’t want my child subjected to that. I’d have to post a post-it note on my child’s shirt that reads, “My mom is a professional boxer with a mean right hook” cause heaven help the teacher that lays their hand on my child.
10. And so, on that note, I gave Q two options: a. a baby, b. me. I figured it was a pretty easy thing to pick, after all, I was faced with picking a. Canada or b. him and I picked him. I picked him over my home, my family, my friends, my comfort,.. everything and anything I left behind in Canada, I picked him over it ALL. He said he wanted both a and b. I told him that wasn't fair and he was being selfish about his decision. Moreover, I felt pretty insulted that it was so easy for me to pick him over MANY things and yet he couldn't even pick me over a person he hasn't even met yet. I don't want more than just him. "I want someone who'll pick me. I think that's fair and so if you can't pick me than I don't want to pick you anymore" I mumbled. And then he left.
QUESTION OF THE DAY...
Why does he want more than me?
QUOTE OF THE DAY...
Raising kids is part joy and part guerilla warfare.
-- Ed Asner quote
Monday, June 23, 2008
Highlights of my Day... Monday, June 23
1. First official day of holidays, sweeeeeeeeeeet!!! Mind ya, I ended up going into work. I had to meet with 5 of my students for their exam and then I stuck around for a couple of hours.
2. I had sent out a mass email to my students last night, telling them who among them are failing the class due to poor attendance and so today one of those students came in to talk to me. Dankook University has a three missed classes equals an automatic fail and the only excuses they give are if you sleep in a hospital overnight, have a military health check, or have a death in the family. All three excusable excuses must be accompanied by an official document/letter and so I have a folder full of doctor notes, military forms and death notes. Well, this particular student who came to see me today had been sick but hadn’t stay in a hospital. We both sat there thinking of what to do. I mean, rules are rules and if I go bending them for one, what happens if the rest hear of it?!
3. As my student sat there waving his hands in front of his eyes in hopes that it’d help stop the tears that were swelling up his eyes, I turned to him and told me to bring his medicine prescription and a letter from his mother, the letter is kind of grade-schoolish but I didn’t know what else to do. He’s a good student. His English isn’t the greatest but he’s always tried hard in my class and so I felt rotten thinking that he’d fail cause of something so silly like attendance.
4. At boxing today Junior Mint made we test out my body shots on some random amateur boxer who stood at least a head taller than me. Junior Mint yelled at me to punch the young guy but I nervously approached him. I wasn’t afraid of hurting him, instead, I was afraid of hitting him in the “you-know-where”.. trust me, it wouldn’t be the first time. Last time Junior Mint made me do this exercise, I almost ended up sending one of the guys to the hospital after fully squaring him… ouch!!!
5. Did a little window shopping with Q today. We went window shopping for “couple rings” today. For those of you who live in Korea, you are probably well aware of couple shirts, couple cell phone accessories,… couple this… couple that… and couple rings.
6. The rings we looked at were very stylish, mind ya they also came with a “pretty” price tag… yikes!!! I like the idea of couple rings though. They’re not exactly the same ring for both the man and woman, instead, both rings are a bit different from each other but you can still tell that they’re a couple… kind of like real life couples, same but different.
7. Have you ever noticed how couples tend to look like each other?! I’ve noticed this but Q and I totally don’t look alike, and I’m talking more about style than the obvious fact that he’s Korean and I’m not. The ring sales lady had quite a task trying to pick out a couple ring that suited both our style. I think I have expensive taste. I like chunky jewellery that is a bit flashy and sparkly. Q, on the other hand, he’s a jeans and t-shirt kind of guy and so a ring with diamonds just would look funny on him.
8. Mi Nam has upgraded from pooping on command to now telling me when he has to go out to the bathroom… hehehe. Tonight, while Q was over, Mi Nam stood at the door and barked a bit. I tried to quiet him but he continued… very strange. Five minutes later I found out why… pee on the floor. He had to go pee.
9. Got asked if I spoke English today by some business men who were sitting outside my building tonight. I thought it was quite funny and so I answered, in Korean, “No… do you speak Korean?”… hehehe.
10. So tomorrow’s the big night… the night my episode airs on KBS1, cool!!! Don’t worry, I’ll figure out some way to either link it to my homepage here or get a copy of it to post.
QUESTION OF THE DAY...
Aren't there exceptions to every rule?
QUOTE OF THE DAY...
Take care of yourself. Good health is every one's major source of wealth. Without it, happiness is almost impossible.
-- Author Unknown
2. I had sent out a mass email to my students last night, telling them who among them are failing the class due to poor attendance and so today one of those students came in to talk to me. Dankook University has a three missed classes equals an automatic fail and the only excuses they give are if you sleep in a hospital overnight, have a military health check, or have a death in the family. All three excusable excuses must be accompanied by an official document/letter and so I have a folder full of doctor notes, military forms and death notes. Well, this particular student who came to see me today had been sick but hadn’t stay in a hospital. We both sat there thinking of what to do. I mean, rules are rules and if I go bending them for one, what happens if the rest hear of it?!
3. As my student sat there waving his hands in front of his eyes in hopes that it’d help stop the tears that were swelling up his eyes, I turned to him and told me to bring his medicine prescription and a letter from his mother, the letter is kind of grade-schoolish but I didn’t know what else to do. He’s a good student. His English isn’t the greatest but he’s always tried hard in my class and so I felt rotten thinking that he’d fail cause of something so silly like attendance.
4. At boxing today Junior Mint made we test out my body shots on some random amateur boxer who stood at least a head taller than me. Junior Mint yelled at me to punch the young guy but I nervously approached him. I wasn’t afraid of hurting him, instead, I was afraid of hitting him in the “you-know-where”.. trust me, it wouldn’t be the first time. Last time Junior Mint made me do this exercise, I almost ended up sending one of the guys to the hospital after fully squaring him… ouch!!!
5. Did a little window shopping with Q today. We went window shopping for “couple rings” today. For those of you who live in Korea, you are probably well aware of couple shirts, couple cell phone accessories,… couple this… couple that… and couple rings.
6. The rings we looked at were very stylish, mind ya they also came with a “pretty” price tag… yikes!!! I like the idea of couple rings though. They’re not exactly the same ring for both the man and woman, instead, both rings are a bit different from each other but you can still tell that they’re a couple… kind of like real life couples, same but different.
7. Have you ever noticed how couples tend to look like each other?! I’ve noticed this but Q and I totally don’t look alike, and I’m talking more about style than the obvious fact that he’s Korean and I’m not. The ring sales lady had quite a task trying to pick out a couple ring that suited both our style. I think I have expensive taste. I like chunky jewellery that is a bit flashy and sparkly. Q, on the other hand, he’s a jeans and t-shirt kind of guy and so a ring with diamonds just would look funny on him.
8. Mi Nam has upgraded from pooping on command to now telling me when he has to go out to the bathroom… hehehe. Tonight, while Q was over, Mi Nam stood at the door and barked a bit. I tried to quiet him but he continued… very strange. Five minutes later I found out why… pee on the floor. He had to go pee.
9. Got asked if I spoke English today by some business men who were sitting outside my building tonight. I thought it was quite funny and so I answered, in Korean, “No… do you speak Korean?”… hehehe.
10. So tomorrow’s the big night… the night my episode airs on KBS1, cool!!! Don’t worry, I’ll figure out some way to either link it to my homepage here or get a copy of it to post.
QUESTION OF THE DAY...
Aren't there exceptions to every rule?
QUOTE OF THE DAY...
Take care of yourself. Good health is every one's major source of wealth. Without it, happiness is almost impossible.
-- Author Unknown
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Highlights of my Day... Sunday, June 22
1. Woke up to a desk full of student final marks waiting to be tallied up and so, that’s how I spent my morning… not really fun.
2. For the rest of the day, however, it was ALL about Mi Nam. We went for a walk in the park, did a bit of jogging, took an afternoon nap, and even went shopping for food together.
3. Q called me to tell me that he had a dream we had a baby together… sounds more like a nightmare if you ask me! I don’t about you but honestly, what’s so great about having a baby? Why do so many people want to have a child? To me, having a child doesn’t mean happiness nor success. I am already successful and happy on my own terms. Happiness to me is waking up everyday in my sweet downtown apartment, having food in my fridge, a healthy body, an educated mind, not worrying about money, friends and family who love me, and a job I’ve never woken up to and said, “I wish I didn’t have to work.” And because I can say I am honestly happy, I consider myself very successful. But wouldn’t a baby change that… wouldn’t it crash my little bubble world of happiness?!
4. Take Mi Nam, for instance, now I know comparing a dog and a baby is like apples and oranges but hear me out… when I got Mi Nam, I was more interested in what he’d be like when I could actually do things with him. I really wasn’t all that interested in him when he was a puppy… pooping on the floor, peeing in the corner, sleeping all day, and well, being a baby. I am not really interested in babies. I don’t find them interested nor do I find most particularly cute. I’m much more interested in the five year old who can tell me their name, play soccer and knows how to put on their own shoes. So if I could just jump from a newborn to a five year old then, OK, sure a kid would be great.
5. Q phoned me to tell me that the pension weekend that I skipped out on cause of not wanting to repeat the weekend in Hell, is, in actually more like Heaven. Eleven men, no annoying wives and their high-pitch dog-only voices, NO CHILDREN, and all men are walking around in panties…. Ahhhh… I KNEW I should have gone!!
6. Mi Nam officially pees AND poops where and when ON COMMAND… I’m excited… hehehe. This, if anything, has been the highlight of my weekend!!! I discovered this today when we got into the elevator and asked Mi Nam, “Do you have to go to the bathroom?”, where upon hearing the word “bathroom” he squatted down and got into “pooping position”… hehehe. Stopped him before he actually pooped but then I tested it out again outside… yup, he’s definitely aware of the word bathroom… hehehe.
8. Mi Nam’s list of Korean vocab/commands to date include, bathroom, delicious, eat, sit, don’t, be quiet, sleep, come here, water, and our floor number. His only English command to date is walk.
9. In attempt to find Mi Nam a girlfriend, I eagerly approached random owners out walking their dogs today but, on both attempts, the owners asked me if he had surgery (if he was neutered). Upon telling that no, he is “all natural”, as I like to put it, the owners yanked their dogs away from Mi Nam and scurried away. Oh please… don’t flatter yourself… hehehe. Like I’d let Mi Nam get with a toy poodle with a purple dyed tail and barrettes in it’s hair, we were merely just being polite… hehehe.
10. Thought a lot about my possible trip to Canada and came to the conclusion that if I go, I’d go for the first week of August. Big plan on my agenda, planning a massive birthday party for myself so that not only do I get to spend my birthday with my Canadian friends but it also means I get to see them all. Making lunch dates, dinner dates, and what not with what felt like a million friends last time I went to Canada left me drained and feeling like I needed a vacation from my vacation!!!
QUESTION OF THE DAY...
It's funny how dogs and cats know the inside of folks better than other folks do, isn't it?
QUOTE OF THE DAY...
A dog owns nothing, yet is seldom dissatisfied.
-- Irish Proverb
2. For the rest of the day, however, it was ALL about Mi Nam. We went for a walk in the park, did a bit of jogging, took an afternoon nap, and even went shopping for food together.
3. Q called me to tell me that he had a dream we had a baby together… sounds more like a nightmare if you ask me! I don’t about you but honestly, what’s so great about having a baby? Why do so many people want to have a child? To me, having a child doesn’t mean happiness nor success. I am already successful and happy on my own terms. Happiness to me is waking up everyday in my sweet downtown apartment, having food in my fridge, a healthy body, an educated mind, not worrying about money, friends and family who love me, and a job I’ve never woken up to and said, “I wish I didn’t have to work.” And because I can say I am honestly happy, I consider myself very successful. But wouldn’t a baby change that… wouldn’t it crash my little bubble world of happiness?!
4. Take Mi Nam, for instance, now I know comparing a dog and a baby is like apples and oranges but hear me out… when I got Mi Nam, I was more interested in what he’d be like when I could actually do things with him. I really wasn’t all that interested in him when he was a puppy… pooping on the floor, peeing in the corner, sleeping all day, and well, being a baby. I am not really interested in babies. I don’t find them interested nor do I find most particularly cute. I’m much more interested in the five year old who can tell me their name, play soccer and knows how to put on their own shoes. So if I could just jump from a newborn to a five year old then, OK, sure a kid would be great.
5. Q phoned me to tell me that the pension weekend that I skipped out on cause of not wanting to repeat the weekend in Hell, is, in actually more like Heaven. Eleven men, no annoying wives and their high-pitch dog-only voices, NO CHILDREN, and all men are walking around in panties…. Ahhhh… I KNEW I should have gone!!
6. Mi Nam officially pees AND poops where and when ON COMMAND… I’m excited… hehehe. This, if anything, has been the highlight of my weekend!!! I discovered this today when we got into the elevator and asked Mi Nam, “Do you have to go to the bathroom?”, where upon hearing the word “bathroom” he squatted down and got into “pooping position”… hehehe. Stopped him before he actually pooped but then I tested it out again outside… yup, he’s definitely aware of the word bathroom… hehehe.
8. Mi Nam’s list of Korean vocab/commands to date include, bathroom, delicious, eat, sit, don’t, be quiet, sleep, come here, water, and our floor number. His only English command to date is walk.
9. In attempt to find Mi Nam a girlfriend, I eagerly approached random owners out walking their dogs today but, on both attempts, the owners asked me if he had surgery (if he was neutered). Upon telling that no, he is “all natural”, as I like to put it, the owners yanked their dogs away from Mi Nam and scurried away. Oh please… don’t flatter yourself… hehehe. Like I’d let Mi Nam get with a toy poodle with a purple dyed tail and barrettes in it’s hair, we were merely just being polite… hehehe.
10. Thought a lot about my possible trip to Canada and came to the conclusion that if I go, I’d go for the first week of August. Big plan on my agenda, planning a massive birthday party for myself so that not only do I get to spend my birthday with my Canadian friends but it also means I get to see them all. Making lunch dates, dinner dates, and what not with what felt like a million friends last time I went to Canada left me drained and feeling like I needed a vacation from my vacation!!!
QUESTION OF THE DAY...
It's funny how dogs and cats know the inside of folks better than other folks do, isn't it?
QUOTE OF THE DAY...
A dog owns nothing, yet is seldom dissatisfied.
-- Irish Proverb
Saturday, June 21, 2008
Highlights of my Day... Saturday, June 21
1. In my efforts to not be so anti-social, I’ve accepted a random holiday party invitation, called Camada Day, sent to me on Facebook for Cheonanites. The party is starts on Saturday, July 5th at 8:30pm and is “for the Americans and Canadians and all the other who want to celebrate our freedom from the Brits. We will be having a little bar party to celebrate our independence. all are welcomed to come.” OK… I’m coming. This should be interesting… and amusing. To think, I’ve been living in Cheonan for almost 4 years now and, after looking at all those invited to this party, I honestly can say I don’t know any foreigner in Cheonan besides the ones I work with… hehehe.
2. Plans for the day: wake up late, boxing, and start calculating student final grades.
3. Worked up quite a sweat at boxing… well, it’s almost impossible to not sweat, mind ya, many of the girls manage to tackle this once thought impossible task… hehehe. I basically had the gym to myself and so Junior Mint cranked up the tunes and I went hardcore with training.
4. Training abs beside Junior Mint turned into a bit of a competition and left me buckled over at the end, in pain from pushing it too hard. My abs were swollen, over exhausted,… I love it!!!
5. Yes… I am such a guy when it comes to training. I love flexing in the mirror… hehehe. Someone once told me that what kept them motivated with training was to envision the final result and keep that image in their mind, as a reminder as why they’re training so hard. So, I envision my 6 pack. Right now it’s a two pack but in my head I see my 6 pack. Q says he misses my baby-Buddha belly and would like my tummy to stay where it is, toned but a bit soft… thanks but soft isn’t what I’m going for. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t want abs that are so hard you can bounce a coin off, but I’m definitely not interested in “soft”.
6. Yah!!! Jaz from KBS has made her way to my homepage and left her mark… cool. Good to see ya again Jaz!!! Thanks for stopping by… I’ve added a link to your homepage on the right side of my homepage.
7. Jaz, I thought I’d do your 20 question survey. Today was a bit of a boring day with Q out of town. Your rules were for me to “remove one (1) question from below and add in your personal question, make it a total of 20 questions, then tag eight (8) people on your list. List them out at the end of this post.”… so, here I go:
What the heck am I going to do with TEN WEEKS of holidays?
QUOTE OF THE DAY...
The big secret in life is that there is no big secret. Whatever your goal, you can get there if you're willing to work.
-- Oprah Winfrey
2. Plans for the day: wake up late, boxing, and start calculating student final grades.
3. Worked up quite a sweat at boxing… well, it’s almost impossible to not sweat, mind ya, many of the girls manage to tackle this once thought impossible task… hehehe. I basically had the gym to myself and so Junior Mint cranked up the tunes and I went hardcore with training.
4. Training abs beside Junior Mint turned into a bit of a competition and left me buckled over at the end, in pain from pushing it too hard. My abs were swollen, over exhausted,… I love it!!!
5. Yes… I am such a guy when it comes to training. I love flexing in the mirror… hehehe. Someone once told me that what kept them motivated with training was to envision the final result and keep that image in their mind, as a reminder as why they’re training so hard. So, I envision my 6 pack. Right now it’s a two pack but in my head I see my 6 pack. Q says he misses my baby-Buddha belly and would like my tummy to stay where it is, toned but a bit soft… thanks but soft isn’t what I’m going for. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t want abs that are so hard you can bounce a coin off, but I’m definitely not interested in “soft”.
6. Yah!!! Jaz from KBS has made her way to my homepage and left her mark… cool. Good to see ya again Jaz!!! Thanks for stopping by… I’ve added a link to your homepage on the right side of my homepage.
7. Jaz, I thought I’d do your 20 question survey. Today was a bit of a boring day with Q out of town. Your rules were for me to “remove one (1) question from below and add in your personal question, make it a total of 20 questions, then tag eight (8) people on your list. List them out at the end of this post.”… so, here I go:
1. What is your favorite food?
- ice cream, my mom’s secret sauce spare ribs… and cheese tak galbi!!!
2. What was your happiest moment when you were a child?
- Riding in the back of my dad’s car trailer as he zooms down the road with me and my two brothers in it.
3. Where is the place that you want to go the most?
- the moon!!! Up there I’m weight-less (which would be a change from the constant weighing in at boxing), I’d love to spill around in the spaceship, test out their package foods, and I’d love to look back at Earth, see the awesomeness of it all while bouncing around on the moon.
4. Which part of you do you hate the most?
- my smelly feet… hehehe… they’re cute but I know they smell, hence Kim Tae and Byung Hyuk's nickname for me, "Princess Smelly Feet"
5. When you encounter a sad moment, what do you do?
- stop talk talking and then spill my beans to Mi Nam
6. What are you afraid to lose the most?
- my dog, Mi Nam
7. If you win $1 million, what would you do?
- invest some, fly some of my friends and family out to Korea, buy a bigger apartment, buy another dog.. and buy more shos (LOTS of shoes... hehehe)
8. What do you love the most about last year (2007)?
- becoming Korea’s first foreign female professional boxer
9. Which actor/actress would you like to play you in a movie?
- Sandra Bullock
10. How do you cope with boredom?
- crank up the tunes and dance around the house with Mi Nam
11. Till now, what is the moment that you regret the most?
- losing my first boxing match… still hurts
12. What type of person do you hate the most?
- people who are quick to judge others before getting their facts straight
13. What is your ambition?
- to uphold my title as pro boxer, get my 6 pack, master the Korean language, and continue to succeed in all that I do
14. If you had one wish, what would you wish for?
- I’d wish for MORE wishes… one wish for another boxing fight, another wish for plane tickets to Korea for my parents, a wish for Mi Nam to have a girlfriend, a wish to speak Korean fluently, a rockin truck with massive wheels for Q, and another wish for a retardedly sick 6 pack.
15. If you were an animal, what animal would you be?
- a monkey… for sure!!!
16. What has been the craziest thing you’ve ever done in your whole life?
- worked for Hells Angels and Foundation
17. What do you look forward to in 2008?
- getting engaged
18. If your life is a song, what title best fits it?
- “I’m Just a Girl” by Gwen Stefani
19. If you were to change one event in your life, what would it be?
- To tell you the truth, I wouldn’t change anything… (besides eating so much ice cream and junk when I was younger.. am having to bust my butt now to recover from years of food abuse) Honestly though, I am more than happy with where I am in life and I think that if I were to change one event, then maybe I wouldn’t be where I am right now. Everything has a domino effect; one thing effects the next.
20. Who are you going to tag?
- BoyToy, Vbuuren, Jennipal, Andy, Bram, Beloved Babbling, Becca, and YOU.
8. Spent the evening at home, chilling with Mi Nam.
9. Mi Nam and I went out for a late night walk and ran into one of my coworkers former students who use to visit the office. I didn’t recognize him at first cause he was in a car. He tailed close behind me as Mi Nam and I walked and so it was rather annoying. Then he cut me off with his car and backed-up. As he got out of the car, with his back to me, I stopped and was ready to tell him off… then he turned around. Kind of awkward… hehehe.
10. Spent the rest of my evening working on final grades… yup, not exactly fun. Q was out having fun in Daejon with his middle school friends while I slaved away at my computer… “Ten weeks” was what I kept on telling me… hard time now, easy time later. No worries.
What the heck am I going to do with TEN WEEKS of holidays?
QUOTE OF THE DAY...
The big secret in life is that there is no big secret. Whatever your goal, you can get there if you're willing to work.
-- Oprah Winfrey
Friday, June 20, 2008
Highlights of my Day... Friday, June 20
1. Day 4 AND last day of exams… or so I thought!!! Complications and miscommunication arose in my last class of the day when 5 of my students arrived at my office for the exam, only to realize that the exam was back in our classroom… literally the other side of campus.
2. I lectured the first of the 5 students, telling her that I wasn’t going to buy her story and was going to give her an automatic zero, like any of my coworkers would do and expect me to do the same. She’s always coming up with these “excuses” as to why she didn’t do her homework, doesn’t come to class… I’ve heard it all from her. Mind ya, when I found out that two of the five students who missed my exam were the two top students in the class, I knew I seriously had to take different action.
3. So…. After nine hours of interviewing with only a 30 minute break at half point, I’m now coming in to work on Monday to interview five students.
4. Walking out of the office today and then leaving campus, after a full semester of classes and work, felt kind of sad. My teaching is a huge part of my life here in Korea, besides it being my main source of income that is. So, when I got off the bus tonight and stepped into downtown, it felt so good to run into a group of my students. I didn’t notice them at first but instead overheard a big crowd of people shouting “Professor Michelle!” I looked over my shoulder and there stood eight of my students yelling and waving.
5. Arriving home after a full day… definitely a full day… made me want to do nothing but be a human vegetable for the next couple of hours. I treated myself to chicken from the Galleria and then chilled out on the couch with Mi Nam.
6. Mi Nam is the main dog around Sambu, apparently. So much for those two ugly ankle-bitting dogs who use to have crazy high courage. After the dry cleaning man (Mi Nam’s friend… hehehe) chased those two dogs down the street the other week, Mi Nam hasn’t had a problem with them since. Tonight those two, however, thought they’d test Mi Nam out and so they quietly snuck up to us. I turned and yelled at them, told Mi Nam to go eat them and so off we went, chasing those two ugly mutts down the street. A neighbouring old lady out watering her plants saw the whole thing go down and had quite a laugh at Mi Nam and I sprinting after the mutts… hehehe.
7. Later in the evening, Q and I met up. He had promised to take me to feast out on tuna (sushi) if he got a bonus from work… today he got that bonus, and so tonight we headed out for a tuna feast.
8. We sat at the main sushi counter, right in front of the sushi master as he sliced and diced our fish and chatted with us. Turns out he’s got quite the interesting story. He too is in an interracial relationship. Last year he got married to a Japanese woman who, when he first met, didn’t speak a word of Korean. Now, he says, they speak in Korean but her Korean is still pretty low and so their conversations are limited to short, simple sentences…. And here I thought Q and I had a hard time sometimes, wow!!!
9. Halfway through the meal, the sushi master congratulated me, "On what?" was my natural question. "On getting married next year" was his response. Oh... I'm getting married next year?! To whom?... hehehe. Gotta love the fact that Q is telling everyone that we're getting married, he has even started calling me "Wife" and yet, he hasn't even popped the question.
10. Oh gosh... discussion took a swerve in the road and went down the "baby talk" road... hmmm. I'm still emotionally scared from my weekend in Hell (aka Pension City). He wants me to go to the doctor soon to get things checked out, like I need a tuning or something. I'm not a car, nor am I really interested in pumping out a baby or two, at least not right now. I still am convinced, given my ongoing obsession with training and boxing, that adoption is the right route for me, that or getting another dog. Hehehe... a dog and a baby, not the same thing?! Ya, right... I guess you haven't met Mi Nam... hehehe.
QUESTION OF THE DAY...
Since when was it an expectation that I'd eventually have a kid?
QUOTE OF THE DAY...
Sooner or later we all quote our mothers.
-- Bern Williams
2. I lectured the first of the 5 students, telling her that I wasn’t going to buy her story and was going to give her an automatic zero, like any of my coworkers would do and expect me to do the same. She’s always coming up with these “excuses” as to why she didn’t do her homework, doesn’t come to class… I’ve heard it all from her. Mind ya, when I found out that two of the five students who missed my exam were the two top students in the class, I knew I seriously had to take different action.
3. So…. After nine hours of interviewing with only a 30 minute break at half point, I’m now coming in to work on Monday to interview five students.
4. Walking out of the office today and then leaving campus, after a full semester of classes and work, felt kind of sad. My teaching is a huge part of my life here in Korea, besides it being my main source of income that is. So, when I got off the bus tonight and stepped into downtown, it felt so good to run into a group of my students. I didn’t notice them at first but instead overheard a big crowd of people shouting “Professor Michelle!” I looked over my shoulder and there stood eight of my students yelling and waving.
5. Arriving home after a full day… definitely a full day… made me want to do nothing but be a human vegetable for the next couple of hours. I treated myself to chicken from the Galleria and then chilled out on the couch with Mi Nam.
6. Mi Nam is the main dog around Sambu, apparently. So much for those two ugly ankle-bitting dogs who use to have crazy high courage. After the dry cleaning man (Mi Nam’s friend… hehehe) chased those two dogs down the street the other week, Mi Nam hasn’t had a problem with them since. Tonight those two, however, thought they’d test Mi Nam out and so they quietly snuck up to us. I turned and yelled at them, told Mi Nam to go eat them and so off we went, chasing those two ugly mutts down the street. A neighbouring old lady out watering her plants saw the whole thing go down and had quite a laugh at Mi Nam and I sprinting after the mutts… hehehe.
7. Later in the evening, Q and I met up. He had promised to take me to feast out on tuna (sushi) if he got a bonus from work… today he got that bonus, and so tonight we headed out for a tuna feast.
8. We sat at the main sushi counter, right in front of the sushi master as he sliced and diced our fish and chatted with us. Turns out he’s got quite the interesting story. He too is in an interracial relationship. Last year he got married to a Japanese woman who, when he first met, didn’t speak a word of Korean. Now, he says, they speak in Korean but her Korean is still pretty low and so their conversations are limited to short, simple sentences…. And here I thought Q and I had a hard time sometimes, wow!!!
9. Halfway through the meal, the sushi master congratulated me, "On what?" was my natural question. "On getting married next year" was his response. Oh... I'm getting married next year?! To whom?... hehehe. Gotta love the fact that Q is telling everyone that we're getting married, he has even started calling me "Wife" and yet, he hasn't even popped the question.
10. Oh gosh... discussion took a swerve in the road and went down the "baby talk" road... hmmm. I'm still emotionally scared from my weekend in Hell (aka Pension City). He wants me to go to the doctor soon to get things checked out, like I need a tuning or something. I'm not a car, nor am I really interested in pumping out a baby or two, at least not right now. I still am convinced, given my ongoing obsession with training and boxing, that adoption is the right route for me, that or getting another dog. Hehehe... a dog and a baby, not the same thing?! Ya, right... I guess you haven't met Mi Nam... hehehe.
QUESTION OF THE DAY...
Since when was it an expectation that I'd eventually have a kid?
QUOTE OF THE DAY...
Sooner or later we all quote our mothers.
-- Bern Williams
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Highlights of my Day... Thursday, June 19
1. Day 3 of student interviews and it's killing my energy levels. I'm not use to sitting in a chair for so long and so having to sit there for 4 straight hours left me squirming in my seat and inching to anything but sit.
2. Bribes continue to flow my way at school in terms of juice and coffee... I'm not impressed. If they really wanted to bribe me, they would have brought banana milk! Hehehe...
3. After school I went on a mad cleaning spree, cleaning out my clothes closet, shoes, and what not. I found clothes I honestly didn't even knew I had... seriously! I'm brutal for keeping clothes and thinking, "Ah, one day I might like this again... one day I may wear it again". Today, all those "maybe again" clothes got thrown out. Two massive garbag bags worth!!!
4. Realized I have a problem... I can't stop buying lip gloss. Seriously, I buy so many and today, even after throwing many of them away, I still have over 40 in my lip gloss bowl... yikes!!!!
5. Realized just how spoiled some kids can be when I ran into an ex-coworker of mine with her son. I felt embarrassed for her despite the fact that she didn't even seem to be bothered by her child's over the top stubbornness. She was totally whipped by her. All I kept on thinking was, "Man! If that were me, my mom would be spanking my butt right now!!!" Yet another reason why the idea of being childless is looking more and more attractive.
6. For those of you who live in Korea, the term "s-line" shouldn't be an unfamiliar term to you. They use it in advertising slogans, school girls chat about it over lunch, and it's talked about on TV. Tonight S-line Wannabe Girl at boxing asked me why I looked so serious while skipping. "S-line!" I answered... hehehe. I'm still not sure as to whether or not I am going to Canada this summer but in anticipation of my possible trip, hopes of sporting a bikini, and the fact that most my team mates are ripped, I've been really pushing myself at training lately... .I really want a new and improved s-line... hehehe.
7. Yes, don't ask me... I am a fitness freak, so please don't ask me to join you late at night for deep fried chicken and beer in a smokey bar that will only leave me feeling like I'll be due for a heart attack, greasy oil stains on my clothes, smoke in my lungs and hair, and beer that will surely leave me feeling disgustingly bloated. Black lungs, clogged arteries and a beer gut isn't the look I am going for, but thanks... I don't eat greasy food, I don't drink and I sure as heck don't want to hang out at some smoky bar when I could be sleeping... or breathing. And by the way, making cracks at me for not joining you does nothing to me except make me all the more eager to see you at the beach in the summer. We may be young right now, but I give you a couple of years before you abusing your youth catches up to you... and leaves your butt sagging!!!
8. It's funny cause some people tease me for my dieting and brutal workouts. Let it be known though, I don't diet because I think I am fat. I never thought I was fat. Instead, it's cause I am a boxer. Weight is very important in boxing, so important that if you aren't a certain weight for a match, you'll be required to dish out MAD cash... mad, mad cash. Furthermore, it's a lot easier to slowly lower your weight now than drastically drop it when scheduled a fight. I learnt that the hard way last time and you know what, it killed my energy levels and strength. Moreover, my diet makes my body feel great. I have plenty of energy, I feel mentally alert, and it just makes me feel so much more confident and comfortable.
9. Q says I have a good body but I hate the word "good"... good is the middle between bad and great. So many things are good. I don't want to be good. I bust my butt at training but sometimes I think my hard dieting and brutal training isn't evident when people look at my body. I want people to look at me and think, "Yup.. that chick is definitely a boxer!" I know looks aren't everything and vanity has NOTHING to do with; it's not about that at all. BUT when you CONTINUALLY bust your butt like I do every single day, whether that be with my diet or training, than you can't not have high expectations on your body.
10. Q's been coming over to my house every day this week and I've noticed that when he is here, Mi Nam acts all playful and whatnot, but he doesn't eat his food. This has been going on for about week now and so he's been only eating one meal a day, definitely a drop from the two large meals he's use to eating everyday. Hmmm... I don't think Q's the issue here, I think it's coincidental. I think Mi Nam is sick.
QUESTION OF THE DAY...
Is it coincidental or is it the reason?
QUOTE OF THE DAY...
It is amazing how much crisper the general experience of life becomes when your body is given a chance to develop a little strength.
-- Frank Duff
2. Bribes continue to flow my way at school in terms of juice and coffee... I'm not impressed. If they really wanted to bribe me, they would have brought banana milk! Hehehe...
3. After school I went on a mad cleaning spree, cleaning out my clothes closet, shoes, and what not. I found clothes I honestly didn't even knew I had... seriously! I'm brutal for keeping clothes and thinking, "Ah, one day I might like this again... one day I may wear it again". Today, all those "maybe again" clothes got thrown out. Two massive garbag bags worth!!!
4. Realized I have a problem... I can't stop buying lip gloss. Seriously, I buy so many and today, even after throwing many of them away, I still have over 40 in my lip gloss bowl... yikes!!!!
5. Realized just how spoiled some kids can be when I ran into an ex-coworker of mine with her son. I felt embarrassed for her despite the fact that she didn't even seem to be bothered by her child's over the top stubbornness. She was totally whipped by her. All I kept on thinking was, "Man! If that were me, my mom would be spanking my butt right now!!!" Yet another reason why the idea of being childless is looking more and more attractive.
6. For those of you who live in Korea, the term "s-line" shouldn't be an unfamiliar term to you. They use it in advertising slogans, school girls chat about it over lunch, and it's talked about on TV. Tonight S-line Wannabe Girl at boxing asked me why I looked so serious while skipping. "S-line!" I answered... hehehe. I'm still not sure as to whether or not I am going to Canada this summer but in anticipation of my possible trip, hopes of sporting a bikini, and the fact that most my team mates are ripped, I've been really pushing myself at training lately... .I really want a new and improved s-line... hehehe.
7. Yes, don't ask me... I am a fitness freak, so please don't ask me to join you late at night for deep fried chicken and beer in a smokey bar that will only leave me feeling like I'll be due for a heart attack, greasy oil stains on my clothes, smoke in my lungs and hair, and beer that will surely leave me feeling disgustingly bloated. Black lungs, clogged arteries and a beer gut isn't the look I am going for, but thanks... I don't eat greasy food, I don't drink and I sure as heck don't want to hang out at some smoky bar when I could be sleeping... or breathing. And by the way, making cracks at me for not joining you does nothing to me except make me all the more eager to see you at the beach in the summer. We may be young right now, but I give you a couple of years before you abusing your youth catches up to you... and leaves your butt sagging!!!
8. It's funny cause some people tease me for my dieting and brutal workouts. Let it be known though, I don't diet because I think I am fat. I never thought I was fat. Instead, it's cause I am a boxer. Weight is very important in boxing, so important that if you aren't a certain weight for a match, you'll be required to dish out MAD cash... mad, mad cash. Furthermore, it's a lot easier to slowly lower your weight now than drastically drop it when scheduled a fight. I learnt that the hard way last time and you know what, it killed my energy levels and strength. Moreover, my diet makes my body feel great. I have plenty of energy, I feel mentally alert, and it just makes me feel so much more confident and comfortable.
9. Q says I have a good body but I hate the word "good"... good is the middle between bad and great. So many things are good. I don't want to be good. I bust my butt at training but sometimes I think my hard dieting and brutal training isn't evident when people look at my body. I want people to look at me and think, "Yup.. that chick is definitely a boxer!" I know looks aren't everything and vanity has NOTHING to do with; it's not about that at all. BUT when you CONTINUALLY bust your butt like I do every single day, whether that be with my diet or training, than you can't not have high expectations on your body.
10. Q's been coming over to my house every day this week and I've noticed that when he is here, Mi Nam acts all playful and whatnot, but he doesn't eat his food. This has been going on for about week now and so he's been only eating one meal a day, definitely a drop from the two large meals he's use to eating everyday. Hmmm... I don't think Q's the issue here, I think it's coincidental. I think Mi Nam is sick.
QUESTION OF THE DAY...
Is it coincidental or is it the reason?
QUOTE OF THE DAY...
It is amazing how much crisper the general experience of life becomes when your body is given a chance to develop a little strength.
-- Frank Duff
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Highlights of my Day... Wednesday, June 18
1. Q has been getting quite comfortable in my apartment, coming over every day this week and then showing up today at 7am when his night shift ended. I had just woke up and so I sent him out walking with Mi Nam while I cooked breakfast and got ready for tutoring.
2. Raced off to Seoul for Korean tutoring and had the strangest encounter with some random dude sitting beside me who, at first glance, looked like he was wearing the exact outfit as me; trendy blue jeans and a black and white pin-stripped dress shirt with the collar flipped up. Apparently he noticed this and as I drifted off to sleep beside him, I awoke to sounds of a camera phone. I awoke several times to this nose but only when I finally arrived in Seoul did I clue in to the fact that it was buddy-boy beside me taking pictures of ME... strange, very strange.
3. KBS called me today, interrupting my Korean class and asking if they could meet up with me, again. "MORE filming?!" I asked... no, turns out they're having problems uploading my boxing fight coverage from my camcorder's memory card... ya, you and me both!!! Still haven't figured out that silly thing. And to think, my camcorder cost someone an arm and a leg but because it's high definition and has super hype technology, most computers can't handle the files... great.
4. Those who know me and, well those who don't really know me even, know that I am prone to this weird situations, always have been. Whether it's random people coming up and telling me strange stuff, people offering me free stuff, or whatnot, I always seem to meet a lot of "interesting" people. Do you remember me telling you about that dude who stole my cellphone, oh, almost a year ago now.... well, he STILL texts my phone... hehehe. Mind ya, I guess I am to blame for that cause occasionally I responded to his text messages... hehehe. Honestly though, I'm sure if we ran into each other again we wouldn't even recognize him. All I remember about him is his stylish hat that reminded me of Joey Jeremiah off of "Degrassi High"... hehehe.
5. I've got good news... and I've got bad news. Good news being that Mi Nam definitely has an admirer!!! The two met yesterday and then we ran into her again today. She mulls his face with kisses and is quite a pretty lady. However, there's bad news... she's got two legs... because... she's a chick, not a dog... hehehe. Mi Nam seems to playing hard to get, ignoring her and walking away... hehehe. Yesterday she saw Mi Nam and I waiting for take-out at Kimbab Chunkuk and then today, when she saw us again, she literally ran through traffic to come say hi to Mi Nam.
6. Turns out Mi Nam's ''Lovely Lady" has a toy poodle. I giggled and suggested that we should introduce our dogs to each other, despite my TOTAL lack of interest in a dog that can be barely called a dog. She didn't seem too interested, mind ya, she kind of ignored my words as she continued to rub her face on Mi Nam's back... oh gosh. She was a bit too much, to say the least... hehehe.
7. Speaking of animals, got word from my mom the other day that they've discovered that my kitty in Canada, Scrappy-Jo, is deaf!!! They noticed this after she failed to respond to my parents calling her name and to the lawn mower. Neither of them know how long she's been deaf, maybe she's been deaf since the day I adopted her... hmmm... I feel kind of sad. Maybe she's never heard my voice and all the things I've told her... hmmm.
8. Q agreed to help me mark my exams today but with ALL my light bulbs in my chandelier blown, we had limited time to do marking today. We've searched out a ladder in my building but still haven't gotten around to figuring out how the heck we're going to get it up to my floor.
9. After we finished off my marking and then recorded the marks, our productivity level for the rest of the afternoon and evening crashed and burned once our heads hit the couch. Q curled up on the couch, then I curled up beside him, and then Mi Nam curled up to me... and then it was lights out for the three of us for the next four hours.
10. By the time we woke up from our totally unexpected nap, it was too late to go to boxing and so we decided to stay in for what was left of the evening. It was kind of nice though, just the three of us.
QUESTION OF THE DAY...
Don't you just love lazy days like this?
QUOTE OF THE DAY...
Love the moment, and the energy of that moment will spread beyond all boundaries.
-- Corita Kent
2. Raced off to Seoul for Korean tutoring and had the strangest encounter with some random dude sitting beside me who, at first glance, looked like he was wearing the exact outfit as me; trendy blue jeans and a black and white pin-stripped dress shirt with the collar flipped up. Apparently he noticed this and as I drifted off to sleep beside him, I awoke to sounds of a camera phone. I awoke several times to this nose but only when I finally arrived in Seoul did I clue in to the fact that it was buddy-boy beside me taking pictures of ME... strange, very strange.
3. KBS called me today, interrupting my Korean class and asking if they could meet up with me, again. "MORE filming?!" I asked... no, turns out they're having problems uploading my boxing fight coverage from my camcorder's memory card... ya, you and me both!!! Still haven't figured out that silly thing. And to think, my camcorder cost someone an arm and a leg but because it's high definition and has super hype technology, most computers can't handle the files... great.
4. Those who know me and, well those who don't really know me even, know that I am prone to this weird situations, always have been. Whether it's random people coming up and telling me strange stuff, people offering me free stuff, or whatnot, I always seem to meet a lot of "interesting" people. Do you remember me telling you about that dude who stole my cellphone, oh, almost a year ago now.... well, he STILL texts my phone... hehehe. Mind ya, I guess I am to blame for that cause occasionally I responded to his text messages... hehehe. Honestly though, I'm sure if we ran into each other again we wouldn't even recognize him. All I remember about him is his stylish hat that reminded me of Joey Jeremiah off of "Degrassi High"... hehehe.
5. I've got good news... and I've got bad news. Good news being that Mi Nam definitely has an admirer!!! The two met yesterday and then we ran into her again today. She mulls his face with kisses and is quite a pretty lady. However, there's bad news... she's got two legs... because... she's a chick, not a dog... hehehe. Mi Nam seems to playing hard to get, ignoring her and walking away... hehehe. Yesterday she saw Mi Nam and I waiting for take-out at Kimbab Chunkuk and then today, when she saw us again, she literally ran through traffic to come say hi to Mi Nam.
6. Turns out Mi Nam's ''Lovely Lady" has a toy poodle. I giggled and suggested that we should introduce our dogs to each other, despite my TOTAL lack of interest in a dog that can be barely called a dog. She didn't seem too interested, mind ya, she kind of ignored my words as she continued to rub her face on Mi Nam's back... oh gosh. She was a bit too much, to say the least... hehehe.
7. Speaking of animals, got word from my mom the other day that they've discovered that my kitty in Canada, Scrappy-Jo, is deaf!!! They noticed this after she failed to respond to my parents calling her name and to the lawn mower. Neither of them know how long she's been deaf, maybe she's been deaf since the day I adopted her... hmmm... I feel kind of sad. Maybe she's never heard my voice and all the things I've told her... hmmm.
8. Q agreed to help me mark my exams today but with ALL my light bulbs in my chandelier blown, we had limited time to do marking today. We've searched out a ladder in my building but still haven't gotten around to figuring out how the heck we're going to get it up to my floor.
9. After we finished off my marking and then recorded the marks, our productivity level for the rest of the afternoon and evening crashed and burned once our heads hit the couch. Q curled up on the couch, then I curled up beside him, and then Mi Nam curled up to me... and then it was lights out for the three of us for the next four hours.
10. By the time we woke up from our totally unexpected nap, it was too late to go to boxing and so we decided to stay in for what was left of the evening. It was kind of nice though, just the three of us.
QUESTION OF THE DAY...
Don't you just love lazy days like this?
QUOTE OF THE DAY...
Love the moment, and the energy of that moment will spread beyond all boundaries.
-- Corita Kent
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Highlights of my Day... Tuesday, June 17
1. Today's exam interviews were relatively short, sweet and painless... and actually fun.
2. Last week I ran into two of my Tuesday students while filming with KBS and found out that they were a couple... a campus couple, as the Koreans say... hehehe. Today I had lots of fun teasing them about that while they waited for the exam time to start.
3. In one of my classes there's a particular male student who I think is ultra sweet and I totally think his mannerisms and personality rock. He's super shy but is always eager to help me. After class he always waits until everyone leaves, then he bows goodbye to me, thanks me, and then leaves. Today he had his exam. I knew he had studied hard but he walked into the classroom shaking like a leaf and looked so pale. I asked if he was alright and he responded with, "I test stress." Sweat beaded on his face and he squirmed in his seat as I went through the exam interview with him. No sooner had we read the conversation but then he forgot it all when I questioned him about it. Finally, his exam finished. He didn't do good, actually, he did pretty bad and I felt super stressed for him.
4. Later on, I saw that same male student. He was walking out of the bathroom from what looked like washing his face after crying. His eyes were starting to get puffy and he looked so sad. He greeted me with the same overly polite bow and smile he always does but I knew inside he was feeling crushed. And so, on that note, I put my arm around his shoulder and told him, "Thank you for always being such a great student to me. I think you're really awesome." I don't even know if he understood me but me choking on my words as I said them gave hint to him what I meant.
5. With exams finished for the day, I walked out and met up with Q. He had to work night shift tonight and so with the day off, he thought we'd spend it together. Just as I was walking towards him, some of my students ran up to me. They had bought me juice. I accepted it kindly and said thank you. I had a little giggle over it though, knowing that the bag on my shoulder was jammed pack with juices and canned coffee the students had given me today... hehehe.
6. Q and I decided to walk to the boxing club and, while walking, we got into quite the discussion about buying a house. I already knew buying a house in Korea would be expensive and so I asked him about renting one. Turns out the key deposit (which you get back once you move out) is about $100,000 CDN... yikes!!!
7. At boxing today I got teased a lot about the whole KBS situation and my personal cheerleader, Little Miss Sunshine, thought it'd be funny to re-in act the whole scene by pulling out a camera and taking pictures of me.
8. For all those out there here in Korea, tune into "Love in Asia" on KBS 1 next Tuesday at 7:30pm to see the episode they did on me... should be interesting. I'm sure it'll also be on the Internet and so next week, when I get word of the link, I'll link it to my homepage.
9. Yet AGAIN, I got another email from a friend back in Canada saying that they saw my episode on "Matchmaker"... oh gosh. I did an episode for a dating show about 5 years ago and yet they keep on playing it over and over... AND OVER!!! Hmm... I should try to put it on my YouTube account... maybe.
10. Oh gosh... in Korea, a land TOTALLY in love with it's kimchi and that delivers everything and anything, ranging from dry cleaning and food to yogurt and newspapers, you'd think finding a restaurant to deliver kimchi jjigga would be easy as pie... apparently not!!! Both Q and I hadn't eaten all day and after training we were both craving kimchi jjigga. My apartment maintenance crew is pretty efficient in that they keep the grounds clean, this includes taking off what ever flyers get taped onto my door. And so, with no flyers to look at and no numbers for delivery stored in my phone, I ended up having to run over to Kimbab Chunkuk. I haven't been there in such a long time and so me popping in tonight for take-out came with a side order of slaps to the shoulder and one clip across the back of the neck from the manager... hehehe.
QUESTION OF THE DAY...
Where the heck are we going to get that money?
QUOTE OF THE DAY...
Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow.
-Anon
2. Last week I ran into two of my Tuesday students while filming with KBS and found out that they were a couple... a campus couple, as the Koreans say... hehehe. Today I had lots of fun teasing them about that while they waited for the exam time to start.
3. In one of my classes there's a particular male student who I think is ultra sweet and I totally think his mannerisms and personality rock. He's super shy but is always eager to help me. After class he always waits until everyone leaves, then he bows goodbye to me, thanks me, and then leaves. Today he had his exam. I knew he had studied hard but he walked into the classroom shaking like a leaf and looked so pale. I asked if he was alright and he responded with, "I test stress." Sweat beaded on his face and he squirmed in his seat as I went through the exam interview with him. No sooner had we read the conversation but then he forgot it all when I questioned him about it. Finally, his exam finished. He didn't do good, actually, he did pretty bad and I felt super stressed for him.
4. Later on, I saw that same male student. He was walking out of the bathroom from what looked like washing his face after crying. His eyes were starting to get puffy and he looked so sad. He greeted me with the same overly polite bow and smile he always does but I knew inside he was feeling crushed. And so, on that note, I put my arm around his shoulder and told him, "Thank you for always being such a great student to me. I think you're really awesome." I don't even know if he understood me but me choking on my words as I said them gave hint to him what I meant.
5. With exams finished for the day, I walked out and met up with Q. He had to work night shift tonight and so with the day off, he thought we'd spend it together. Just as I was walking towards him, some of my students ran up to me. They had bought me juice. I accepted it kindly and said thank you. I had a little giggle over it though, knowing that the bag on my shoulder was jammed pack with juices and canned coffee the students had given me today... hehehe.
6. Q and I decided to walk to the boxing club and, while walking, we got into quite the discussion about buying a house. I already knew buying a house in Korea would be expensive and so I asked him about renting one. Turns out the key deposit (which you get back once you move out) is about $100,000 CDN... yikes!!!
7. At boxing today I got teased a lot about the whole KBS situation and my personal cheerleader, Little Miss Sunshine, thought it'd be funny to re-in act the whole scene by pulling out a camera and taking pictures of me.
8. For all those out there here in Korea, tune into "Love in Asia" on KBS 1 next Tuesday at 7:30pm to see the episode they did on me... should be interesting. I'm sure it'll also be on the Internet and so next week, when I get word of the link, I'll link it to my homepage.
9. Yet AGAIN, I got another email from a friend back in Canada saying that they saw my episode on "Matchmaker"... oh gosh. I did an episode for a dating show about 5 years ago and yet they keep on playing it over and over... AND OVER!!! Hmm... I should try to put it on my YouTube account... maybe.
10. Oh gosh... in Korea, a land TOTALLY in love with it's kimchi and that delivers everything and anything, ranging from dry cleaning and food to yogurt and newspapers, you'd think finding a restaurant to deliver kimchi jjigga would be easy as pie... apparently not!!! Both Q and I hadn't eaten all day and after training we were both craving kimchi jjigga. My apartment maintenance crew is pretty efficient in that they keep the grounds clean, this includes taking off what ever flyers get taped onto my door. And so, with no flyers to look at and no numbers for delivery stored in my phone, I ended up having to run over to Kimbab Chunkuk. I haven't been there in such a long time and so me popping in tonight for take-out came with a side order of slaps to the shoulder and one clip across the back of the neck from the manager... hehehe.
QUESTION OF THE DAY...
Where the heck are we going to get that money?
QUOTE OF THE DAY...
Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow.
-Anon
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