Highlights of my Day... Friday, December 26

1. Ah Boxing Day, no such thing of it here in Korea so there was really nothing to acknowledge today except for the acknowledgment of the fact we don’t have it.

2. My parents had sent me a whole whack of western goodies for my Christmas presents but my favourite of them all was the bag of drinking straws and the Crest toothpaste. Laugh as you may but I’ve been using the same drinking straw for the past month… oh gosh, that’s brutal… hehehe. What can I say, I have sensitive teeth. Moreover, I prefer using a straw anyways. My mom had sent me this new Winter-fresh Crest toothpaste and so… ya... I love it.

3. My third favourite present I got this year was the big jar of mixed nuts that Q gave me (please, don’t tell him I’m more interested in the nuts than his ring!!!). It’s got about nine different nuts (all unsalted… big bonus there) in the jar, along with dried up pieces of bananas.

4. So ya, I know what you’re probably thinking, “Amy’s nuts over nuts and some measly regular household goods?!” In response, I don’t know what to say except for “yes”. My eyes lit up like Christmas tree lights when I saw the straws and whatnot. I’m just that kind of simple girl. Now if only my thinking were that simple, I tell ya. Even I know I think too much and over analyze somethings.

5. As for what I did most of my day, I entered in student grades onto the university’s website. I had to enter all them in by 2pm today and so ya, not really fun but I had no choice.

6. Later on in the evening I headed out to Dankook to deal with my winter camp class. Tonight we were hosting a movie night for all the classes. Featured movie, “Pay it Forward”. I’ve seen the movie before, back when it first came out, but I still got somewhat emotional at the end. Thankfully, not as emotional as I did the first time round, oh gosh… hehehe. I’m not a big fan of Helen Hunt and her over-the-top big forehead but she suited the role quite nicely and they couldn’t have picked a better person to play the character of Trevor. It’s an awesome movie with a relatively simple message but the delivery of that message was so beautifully written.

7. Prior to popping in the movie for all to watch, I got talking to some of the students from my co-worker’s class. They knew about me via friends of theirs that were former students of mine and so we got chatting a bit.

8. Sometimes I wonder to myself, how come I always meet such amazing people at school but meet no one remotely as awesome as them outside, like away from the university?! It’s clear that my lack of socializing is a huge factor here but I just don’t get random people approaching me and talking to me like I do at the university. It seems like everyday at work I meet someone new or am introduced to a friend of a former student. Random students call out my name and say hi to me on campus but friends and students are two different roles though. They’re two different statuses that I don’t mix and try hard to keep separated. Sometimes I wish I didn’t have the students I have, I mean, I think they’re incredible but I wish I didn’t meet them at school. Instead, I wish I met them at the shopping mall or at the gym. But that’s just the thing though, how do you meet totally random strangers in a country that’s all about networking?! I mean, if you ask many Koreans, “how did you meet your girl/boyfriend?” most of them would tell you “through a friend”. Friends hooking up friends with friends, basically. It’s all about networking to them. They network for girl/boyfriends, just like they network for friends.

9. I’ve tapped into this networking, a bit, but I don’t have much faith in it. Jae Min tried to hook me up with some friendships but all I ended up meeting were heavy drinkers/smokers and guys who were borderline stalkers. I did meet Hannah through him, although, she now likes to drink just as much as Jae Min and well, needless to say it’s definitely a clash of lifestyles for me. Junior Mint’s attempt at helping and introducing me to others has only resulted in me meeting middle aged men who treat me like I’m a trophy (ummm… Gangster Oppa) or girls my age that end up driving me mental because they regard the boxing club as a place to hangout and working out to them consists of standing around with a skipping rope in hand and not breaking a sweat. Q use to always invite me out to social functions with his co-workers, in hope that I’d make friends with his friends’ girlfriends or wives. But even he realized that this was kind of a silly expectation. Most of them have kids and, well, I really don’t care for kids. Moreover, they think it’s funny I weight train and box (which is ironic cause their husbands seem to be impressed) and their overly girly ways make me feel totally out of place.

10. I don’t want to be stalked, made fun of because I don’t drink or think lung cancer is cool, I don’t want to be put on a pedestal, and I definitely don’t want to feel like a butch or guy because I’m into boxing and weight training and am not into popping out kids , frilly dresses, or carrying around a mirror so that I can be as so self-obsessed and look at myself a million times. I buy excellent make-up thanks, it’s not going any where so I don’t need a damn mirror.

QUESTION OF THE DAY...
When is Buff Boy the Original going to finally come back from Australia?

QUOTE OF THE DAY...
If I had to sum up Friendship in one word, it would be Comfort.
-- Adabella Radici