Not being able to pick between the two has made me internationally homeless.

And regardless of what county I pick, I will miss the other... so how do I pick?

Highlights of my Day... Friday, October 31

1. I don’t celebrate Halloween but today I was reminded of my father who, some years ago, retired on this very day after continuous years of dedication to his company, my mother and my family. Thank you dad… Papa Bere!

2. Did the usual Friday plan… raced off to Seoul for Korean class but I missed my bus today and so I showed up late.

3. Strange things interest and fascinate me and buying my new book for the next level in my Korean language studies made me all giddy… I’m such a geek… hehehe.

4. Ran into an old friend while waiting for my bus home in Seoul. I was standing in a crowd when he ran up to me and pretended to be a paparazzi. It was quite embarrassing but funny and after we chatted for a bit, I was left with a crowd of people wondering just who the heck I was… hehehe.

5. On my bus ride home, Gangster Oppa texted me, asking me what I was up to tonight. I told him that I was on the bus but added that I wasn’t feeling too peachy… and then the questions really started. The text message conversation ended with me almost in tears and with him urging me to come see him at the club. I had mentioned to him that I was missing my friends and that at that very moment I wanted to go home… home being Canada as supposed to Cheonan, South Korea.

6. Everyday Italiano in Canada texts me and, as much as I love his text messages, it reminds me how I have no close friend like him in Korea and I hate that. And as much as I have tried to make a close friend like him in Korea, I’ve failed. Things got messed over when Drama Boy thought he was in love with me… boy, did I ever handle that situation wrong. Staple-Stomach is way to rude and self-absorbed, hanging out with Panty Boy consists of high-end restaurants and scooter riding which only gets me in trouble with Junior Mint, Jae Min always wants me to either go drinking with him or go beat the pulp out of someone, both of which I refuse to do. Hanna is all over the place, changing her boyfriends more often than she changes her socks and Byung Hyuk is way the heck down under in Australia. And then there’s Gangster Oppa… he’s convinced he’s my ticket out of this blah pit I’ve found myself in.

7. I never did go to see Gangster Oppa, like he had suggested, instead, upon arriving back home, I headed out to boxing.

8. Apparently people were waiting for me at the boxing club, which was unknown to me. Junior Mint had mentioned something about sparring this week but I didn’t think he was serious, nor did I know he meant sparring tonight.

9. Regardless of who I spar with, I always get the jitters and even when I spar with boxers that I know in my heart I am much more prepared and skilled than, I still get the jitters. Tonight I was told to spare with Little Miss Sunshine. I didn’t really feel so comfortable doing so considering she’s just an amateur and doesn’t take her training so seriously. Nonetheless, we sparred.

10. Scored a TKO (technical knock out) in the first round after I cornered her in the ring. Milk Dud yelled out for me to stop and so I did. Little Miss Sunshine was crunched in the corner with her hands covering her face. I thought I had really hurt her bad and so I quickly ripped off my gloves and knelt beside her to see if she was ok. There was no blood but a couple of tears from one shaken up Little Miss Sunshine. I told her we could stop but she suck it up and said no. I was impressed. I tried to take it easy on her but me being easy on her meant Junior Mint got mad at me. After our sparring match we hugged and I repeatedly told her thank you. She wasn’t so much as a challenge for me as I had hoped for but I really had a new respect for her. No one else at the club ever agrees to spar with me but she had and so for that, I really think she’s an awesome girl.

QUESTION OF THE DAY...
Will I ever feel at home?

QUOTE OF THE DAY...
Home is not where you live but where they understand you.
-- Christian Morgenstern

Can you figure out what the missing line is?!!

Highlights of my Day... Thursday, October 30

1. I don’t know whether it’s my long weekend I will be having this weekend or the awesomeness of my already super duper awesome students, but today I was in such a great mood. I stuck around after class to joke around with my all-boys class. Some of their friends, my former students, had dropped by and so we stood outside, enjoying the sun and enjoying each other’s jokes.

2. Q had the day off and so he came by my school to pick me up. I got a huge round of claps from my students for having a Korean boyfriend… hehehe.

3. Treated myself to some kimchi jjigga… I love it! The couple that owns the restaurant where Q and I usually go to for kimchi jjigga are always so sweet to us and send us extra “service”, which basically makes it almost impossible for me to stick to my smaller meals concept.

4. Plan for the day: go boxing and then go to Hongik in the evening when Q studies English.

5. I purposely convinced Q to go boxing later in the afternoon in hopes of avoiding the whole awkward running into Gangster Oppa with Q situation. No such luck though. Despite going later, we ended up running into him after all. Turns out he had dropped by the club but left and then came back to train… at the EXACT time Q and I came… great. It really shouldn’t be a big deal but in my head I’ve hyped up the whole thing. Mind ya, when you consider Tuesday’s situation, which still has been all hush-hushed, it is a big deal to me. Moreover, Gangster Oppa knows I have a boyfriend and Q knows about Gangster Oppa, but the two have never seen each other so today was quite interesting, to say the least. The whole time I kept on thinking, “Oh gosh… he’s going to tell Q he saw me at weigh-in”.

6. Training beside Gangster Oppa and Q was… well… I’ll be honest, it was uncomfortable, awkward, and something I don’t want to repeat. And so skipping with Q on the one side of me and Gangster Oppa on the other side was strange. Q usually trains pretty hard but today he was all chatty with me and a one point I noticed Gangster Oppa watching us in the mirror’s reflection.

7. Gangster Oppa and I usually don’t chat at the boxing club but we definitely exchange glances and smirks, but today he didn’t. Besides the wink when he left, he pretty much ignored me during training. He seemed to act as if he didn't even know me and so I tried to ask him if something was wrong but he kind of brushed past me and so I decided just to leave him alone. He trained really hard though today and so I was impressed. Even Junior Mint commented to him about him really upping the intensity of his workout today. After he left, Q turned to me and said, “Ya… real gangster. He looks too mean”… but I know different. He’s not mean, well, not to me at least.

8. Q’s been studying English online as part of a deal his company offers their workers with pay and what not. Tonight he had to do a test online and so I ended up doing it for him. I know, I know… he should have done it but… well, I have nothing to justify it so I won’t even try. What I will say though is wow... they REALLY need to invest in paying an editor to check their English. I mean, it’s one thing to make subtle mistakes but… well,.. here, I wrote down two of the questions. You tell me what you think of their English.

QUESTION #1: Pick out the sentence that is wrong.
This bridge built ten years ago.
Joe has never ridden a horse.
The streets are cleaned every day.
I’ve lived in this hour for ten years.

QUESTION #2: Pick out the sentence that is correct.
I’ve been waiting for Laura since 5 o’clock.
I’ve been knowing Lynn for a long time.
Vera has been doing the dog since April.
Edward has been eating the cake for 10 years.

9. Question two is pretty brutal… poor Vera. Actually, never mind Vera, poor dog!!! Hehehe!!!

10. Spent the rest of my evening studying Korean after returning from Hongik. Next week I’ll be having my level three test and so it’s crunch time for studying for that.

QUESTION OF THE DAY...
How is he suppose to learn English if they can't even get their English straight?

QUOTE OF THE DAY...
English is a funny language; that explains why we park our car on the driveway and drive our car on the parkway.
-- Author Unknown

Hahaha... by my dog and his poop!

Highlights of my Day... Wednesday, October 29

1. I know full well that what I am about to tell you will make you shake your hand and call me immature… I know. Trust me, I think the same thing right now. So, what am I talking about, you ask, well… I got into quite the verbal fight today in the morning, while walking Mi Nam. Mi Nam ran ahead of me and well, it was really early so I let the leash go to it’s fullest length. Next thing I knew it, some old man in a car was speeding towards me. I called out for Mi Nam to return to me but his leash got caught on the bottom of the fence that edged the street and so I couldn’t re-track the leash. I didn’t know what to do and Mi Nam, well, he just sat there, about 5 feet in front of me. I yelled out but the old man didn’t stop and so as his car was about to hit Mi Nam, I kicked it. I kicked his front tire and he came to a sudden stop. He rolled down his window and yelled out some pretty colourful Korean words. I was ticked but it was way too early to fight with some old man who’s probably more of a wangtta than me.

2. As I turned the corner and stopped to wait for Mi Nam to do his “business”, the old man parked his car and got out to yell at me. I take it thought I was standing there because of him but I wasn’t. I was standing there cause my dog had to poop. I ended up yelling back at the old man and asking him how he got his driving license.. that’s when his words really got colourful and some neighbouring people stepped out of their houses to watch us.

3. I had promised myself to never let some idiot bring me down to their level but one push to my shoulder and one too many nasty names had pushed me over the limit. And so, what I did next, I am not proud of but I did it… I waited for him to walk away and then I took Mi Nam’s poop bag, opened up his car door, and then placed it on the front seat.

4. No sooner had I arrived back home but then I totally regretting doing what I had did. I knew it was wrong but this wasn’t the first run-in I’ve had with this old crusty man. Mind ya, I’m well aware of the fact that this is definitely a new start to something. I thought about going back and taking the poop bag out. I even went so far as to change my clothes, put on a hoodie and baseball cap, but I stopped myself. After all, wouldn’t me running up to his car and stealing the poop bag only make me look like I was really stealing something, like money or whatnot?! I didn’t want to risk it and so I’ll have to face the music next time I see him… I know… oh gosh.

5. Listening to this ghetto radio is killing me… seriously. In the morning when I was getting ready for work, I thought I had scored when I stumbled across an English channel. Turns out it was some English lesson of the day on some local station. Oh gosh… have I become that desperate for English music that I’m willing to listen to two Koreans teaching English by means of dissecting and ripping apart an old English pop song?!

6. Note to self: get my computer fixed ASAP before I end up going “local”.

7. Am in love with my nursing students… they’re just so awesome and I’m convinced that the answer to world peace would be to bottle up their awesomeness and energy, and spray the rest of the population with it… hehehe. Seriously though, that class is just so much fun to teach. Today I broke out into an impression of the song “Grease Lightening” from the movie Grease when doing attendance. One of the girls picked the name Olivia and so I blurted out, “Oh… Olivia, not Olive… like Olivia Newton John” and that’s when I spontaneously broke out into some funky dance moves and sang. Mind ya, only one student knew the movie Grease and so the others had no idea what I was singing but trust me, the others, despite not understanding my joke, laughed super hard… I was the big joke apparently… hehehe.

8. Yesterday Milk Dud’s grandmother died. Milk Dud headed off to Busan while Junior Mint took a collection of money from everyone for the funeral. So yesterday everyone was dishing out money but today, when I arrived at boxing, it was quite the opposite sight. Junior Mint was handing money to everyone… hmmm.

9. Apparently, Milk Dud’s grandmother had been declared dead and eight hours later her pulse came back… freaky!!! Yup.. that’s what happened. And guess where this all went down… at the funeral building!!! Rumour has it they were getting ready to cremate her when they noticed her neck moving… it was her pulse!!! Now if that doesn’t freak you out then I don’t know what does!!!

10. Those little two brats I had the bad first meeting with about two Saturdays ago continue to bother me at boxing. I don’t know whether it’s because they know I don’t really care for them or if they’re just naturally noisy little ankle bitters, but I don’t care for kids and I definitely don’t care for kids who stand around in my way while I try to train. Q and Junior Mint had a good laugh tonight while they watched those girls repeatedly try to talk to me. Sorry but I go to the boxing club to train… crazy idea, I know, but that’s my story.

QUESTION OF THE DAY...
What stupid thing have you done lately?

QUOTE OF THE DAY...
It's all right letting yourself go, as long as you can get yourself back.
-- Mick Jagger

... so funny... SO embarrassing, but sooooo funny.

Highlights of my Day... Tuesday, October 28

1. One of my students came to class today all banged up. He had a car accident yesterday that left him with two bloodshot eyes, numerous cuts and bruises on his face, and a broken arm. He came late to class and when we all caught sight of him, everyone went quiet. I was reminded of one of my other students who got into a car accident about a year ago and wasn’t so fortunate. He lived but his condition was much worse and I cried when I visited him in the hospital.

2. My campus couple in my class experienced their first big couple spat and so it was really awkward for them in class because they sit beside each other. They met last semester in my English class and so I was happy to see them again in my class this semester. But today the two refused to work together and at one point, the girl left the class in tears. I felt so bad for them. They’re such a sweet couple… well, they WERE.

3. I think something’s wrong with my head… seriously. For starters, I lack the motherly gene that makes most girls go all goggle-eyed over babies. I seem to be getting more detached to things as I get older as supposed to doing the expected settling down thing. I fear becoming one of those soccer moms who’s hobbies consist of collecting coupons from the local supermarket and attending early Saturday morning soccer practices with bed head cause their life now revolves around their kids. I seem to be running away from the marriage bandwagon and my idea of the perfect house involves a downtown loft that is definitely not childproof, not child-appropriate and not necessarily meant for two people. And now I have a boyfriend who’s more faithful to me than Mi Nam and it’s questionable as to who adores me more, and yet what do I do?!... I found myself daydreaming today about a dude that could probably kill me in public and get away with it because of who he is and what he does… how twisted is that?!

4. There’s no sense in it. It makes absolutely no sense that I am attracted to Gangster Oppa who’s got basically nothing in common with me besides us attending the same boxing club, us sharing a common luxurious taste in style, and besides the boredom that has plagued my life recently. I have a wicked boyfriend who always greets me with a smile, is super cute and hilariously silly, who is quick to give me back massages (huge thanks to God for that!!!), and who tries really hard to be a good person. So why am I not jumping to joy that I found a wickedly beautiful man who’s probably more of a man than most the men I know some of my friends have ever hooked up with?!!!

5. I blame it on the population… yup… I blame it on the population and the water I’m drinking. Something’s gotta be in the water cause I’ve been drinking a ton of it and well, with the population, there’s just too many cuties out here. I mean, I went to Canada for three weeks, saw tons of half-naked dudes while playing beach volleyball and what not, but was only really attracted to two guys, both of which were Asian men and one of which was a Korean guy. It’s like God’s trying to tease me by creating all these beautiful men and throwing a good whack of them right here on my doorstep in Korea. I mean, even the delivery dudes he’s been sending me lately are total lookers… what’s up with that?!!!

6. On Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays, I usually go boxing around 3pm and so I usually see Gangster Oppa on these days because he goes there at 2:30pm. His training and my training routines are much different and so our time at the club together is pretty limited. Today, mind ya, I found myself thinking too much about him and it frustrated me. I have Q. Q is an awesome guy and it’d break his heart if he knew I was struggling with such feelings. Goodness sakes, I’d be crushed if I was dating some dude who thought about some other chick… oh wait,… I did date THAT dude… dang!!!

7. So, I stayed home for a bit, tried to kill time, and then I headed out to boxing. I didn’t want to run into Gangster Oppa. But, what do you know… who should I run into at a most awkward moment?!... Gangster Oppa. Yup. What had happened was Junior Mint had just finished training when I arrived. He wanted to take a shower and so he told me to manage the club and answer the phone if anyone called. I was all alone in the club and we weren’t expecting any of the high school kids to come for another 20 minutes and so, I locked the club door and stripped down to my bare necessities so that I could get a proper weight weigh-in. But as I stepped off the scale and turned around, there stood Gangster Oppa, looking at me,… me in my sports bra and panties. If I knew I was going to do a "public" weigh-in, I definitely would have worn some more appropriate bottoms!!! I really had no options as to what to do so I put my head down and tried as hard as I could to walk confidently past him and into the change room. When I got into the change room, I closed the door and thought I’d burst with embarrassment.

8. Turns out he was in the change room when I had first arrived. I could have sworn that the club was empty though. Regardless, when I exited the change room, Junior Mint had returned and was oblivious to what had happened and Gangster Oppa never said anything.

9. Later in the evening, much later after my embarrassing situation, I was still stressed out and so I headed out to Hongik for more training. I wanted to test out this new back/chest routine I’ve been thinking off.

10. Q dropped by my house much later in the evening and it was then that I realized I really got to get my act together. For all I know, Gangster Oppa views me as a kid. I found out today that he’s 35 but I think that’s 35 Korean, so he’s really only 34. We’re not so far apart in age but we’re definitely in two different worlds. Ironically enough, Q started to ask me about Gangster Oppa tonight and no sooner did his questions start rolling out his mouth but then Gangster Oppa started sending me text messages.

QUESTION OF THE DAY...
What did I just get myself into?

QUOTE OF THE DAY...
Women flirt to keep their stock high, men to get somewhere.
-- Mignon McLaughlin

There's four main woman that I read up on and regard as my poster woman for excellence in fitness, strength and beauty, and this is one of them. Her name is Maggie Diubaldo. She's a professional fitness model and is one of the woman who's presence on my fridge, in terms of a picture, is what motivates me and reminds me why exactly I am doing all this hard work.

I find her particularly beautiful in that she doesn't sport the long blond hair and big breasts that so many fitness models do. She's got super short brown hair, a chest that's obviously not large, a body that's very cut, and yet she looks very feminine.

Highlights of my Day... Monday, October 27

1. I think my first period students were just as happy as I was when I announced that next week we won’t be having class because of some Dankook University special holiday. First period kills me. I think it’s a psychological thing with it being first period Monday morning. No one ever likes Monday mornings!

2. Handing out midterm marks was hilarious. Students nervously reached out their hands for their assessment sheets and so I’d act like I was disappointed, making them even more nervous. Students reacted with yelps of joy, giggles, and whatnot. Overall, I was really pleased with all my students’ efforts. I was quite impressed that they memorized the whole conversation and gave it their best shot. Honestly though, I really try not to hand out perfect grades but some of my students… wow… any thing less of a perfect mark would have just been so wrong.

3. I was in a natural high for the rest of the day, thanks to my students and their great success on their midterms. And so I brought my high to boxing and spread it around the club. One of the people in attendance to feed of my energy was none other than the Gangster Oppa.

4. The Gangster Oppa was finishing up his training when I arrived and when he was about to leave, he turned to me and asked me if we could meet up tonight. “Oh my gosh!!! He’s your friend?” one of the other boxers asked me after Gangster Oppa had left the club. We haven’t really talked before and so I don’t think I can really consider us friends. I know what that kid was hinting at and yes, I am fully aware of why so many people don’t talk to Gangster Oppa. Unlike him though, I’m not scared of him. He’s probably just a big teddy bear under all those tattoos and his tough exterior.

5. Plans to meet up last week fell through with Gangster Oppa and I, but plans were back on and scheduled for tonight. I had called him before I left and so he gave directions to the taxi driver. I had no idea where I was going but it felt kind of exciting. As the taxi came to a stop, I suddenly became nervous. There I stood in front of a business club. I didn’t know he owned a club, and I definitely didn’t know he owned this kind of club. Anyways, I stepped in the elevator and pressed floor five.

6. On the way up I choked and pressed the emergency stop button. I was having major second thoughts about this, but then my phone rang. It was him. He had seen me enter the building and noticed I stopped the elevator. So, I released the emergency stop button, took the elevator to the fifth floor and as the doors opened, he stood there waiting for me with a huge smile and surrounded by security.

7. Luxury doesn’t even begin to explain the sight of this club… wow. It was beautifully decorated extensively with marble. It was kind of like a singing room but ultra expensive, super fancy, and there was a catch. The catch being that this was a VIP business club that has females on staff to join the business men when they come to drink and sing. Now I’ve heard of these kinds of clubs before and I’ve also heard that these working girls “work it” harder, if you may say, depending on the owner’s discretion. I wasn’t going to label Gangster Oppa as one of those kind of owners but it definitely got me thinking… and more nervous. Q told me later on that one person drinking there costs about $1000… and I believe him. The place was definitely sweet. I felt so uncomfortable though, standing in the front lobby there with his male security watching me and so he took me to one of his private rooms where I sat down on an over sized couch that sat beside an equally over sized marble table.

8. The point of me meeting up with Gangster Oppa was to help him with his English and to start a kind of friendship. He had overheard me at the boxing club complaining about being a wangtta and wanting more zest in my life, hence the invitation to his club. However, what started out as a very uncomfortable evening evolved into a very cozy and enjoyable time with me and the Gangster Oppa shoulder-to-shoulder sharing a small seat and giggling with one of his friends. When it came time for me to go, Gangster Oppa was sweet enough to walk me to a cab. In the elevator he turned to me and told me that we are now friends and that he expects me to message him. I didn’t know what to say. I wanted to tell him so much. Tonight was nothing like I had expected!!! I was flooded with tons of thoughts and wanted to tell him that I really appreciated this new friendship, that I didn’t think his elementary English level was silly, that I loved his cologne and was pleasantly surprised by the sight of him wearing posh glasses, that standing in such a small elevator made me nervous cause I have a boyfriend and don’t want this situation but I find his half body tattoo disturbingly attractive, along with his loose curls and lop-sided smirk… but I didn’t. Of course I didn’t... I couldn’t. So instead, I giggled, got into my taxi, and left. Halfway down the street I turned to look back at him. He was still standing there watching me.

9. No more than twenty minutes later, my phone started buzzing. It was him… it was Gangster Oppa wishing me a good night and telling me to call him “Oppa”. I once called him Oppa to his face as a kind of joke at the club and he responded with a huge smile. Oppa is kind of term of endearment used by a girl to call a male friend older than her. In a way, it's kind of similar to "Honey" or "Sweetie". I’ve been told by many of my friends to call them Oppa but have never really been comfortable doing so. I’ve never even called Q Oppa before, but regardless, I texted him back, “Good night Oppa *^ ^*”

10. I think Monday nights are going to be the new Friday nights… spectacular!

QUESTION OF THE DAY...
Who's afraid of a big teddy bear?

QUOTE OF THE DAY...
Every man prefers belief to the exercise of judgment.
-- Seneca

Words of advice, click on it so that a second screen (YouTube) pops up and then click “watch in high quality” so that you can actually see and read the words in the video.
I still have no sound on my computer and so working with a song was kind of impossible. It was more of a matter of trial and error, and then running to a local PC room to see if it was ok… hehehe.

Highlights of the Day... Sunday, October 26

1. What can I say about today?!.. I slept in late and missed church, woke up with mad bed head after Mi Nam chewed on my hair for about ten minutes, tried to take an army shower (freezing cold water) but that resulted in me yelling at the top of my lungs.

2. Apparently I wasn’t the only one yelling today. After my shower, I overheard some chick yelling at the end of the hall. I cautiously opened my door to see who it was. It was coming from the last apartment. She screamed a good few more times before I decided I had to go check it out. With my hair wrapped up in a towel, Mickey Mouse pants on and an equally stupid looking tank top on, I approached the door and knocked on it.

3. Much to my embarrassment, the girl was yelling at some spots show on TV… great. I guess it could have been what I thought it was, a domestic dispute, and so I’m glad it wasn’t.

4. Nothing too exciting happened today. I slacked off on doing my lecture Power Point and left it till late.

5. As for what I did before finally getting down to work, well,.. not much. I took Mi Nam for a little walk down to one of the pet stores where we once met his little stalker-girlfriend… Ms. Twinkle Toes, a white super hyper Chiwawa puppy. She was all googly-eyed over Mi Nam but Mi Nam was more into stealing her food than her kisses.

6. Totally out of the blue, it dawned on me today… where is my teddy bear that Q bought me?!!!

7. I asked him about my teddy bear and was shocked at what he told me… oh my gosh… I can’t even bring myself to write it. Apparently… and this is what Q said… apparently, Mi Nam turned my cute pudgy teddy bear into his own personal “lover bear”!!! Disgusting. Moreover, Mi Nam’s only two years old, he’s not supposed to be thinking about stuff like that, is he?!

8. I guess this means no more “Sex in the City” watching at my house!!!... hehehe.

9. Did some late night cooking. I most have cooked about 6 full chicken breasts and 12 sweet potatoes. Ahhh… sweet potatoes, I love them!!!

10. Q was away all day at his grandmother’s house helping her with harvesting the rice. By the time he came back to Cheonan, it was too late to do anything and he was too tired to do anything, too. And so, that’s how my weekend ended… on a boring, quiet note with me curling up on the couch with Mi Nam and studying Korean.

QUESTION OF THE DAY…
Is this what being 28 means?

QUOTE OF THE DAY…
It's frustrating when you know all the answers, but nobody bothers to ask you the questions.
-- Author Unknown

A whole lotta sweet, sweet hard work, sweat, blood and tears filled this stadium today as many of Korea’s amateur boxers came out to prove themselves.

Highlights of my Day... Saturday, October 25

1. Waking up around 4:30am was kind of brutal. Jumping in a packed van with 5 hyper high school boys and Junior Mint at 6am was a bit more brutal. But having to kill tons of time in between the boys getting weighed-in for their fights and the start of the actual tournament was definitely brutal.

2. Here was the basic schedule today:
4:30am Woke up.
6:00am Headed out to Seoul.
7:30am Arrived in Seoul. Killed time sleeping in the car.
9:00am The boys had weigh-in. We had 4 hours to kill so we went to a PC room and had lunch.
1:00pm Amateur tournament started so we all filed into the super chilly stadium.
1-7pm Watched over 55 two-round boxing games.
7-8pm Tournament finals… so more boxing. One of my fighters made it to the finals.
9:40pm Arrived back in Cheonan.

3. Moments of the tournament that stood out:

* Witnessed 14 TKO (technical knock outs)
* One fighter had to be taken to the hospital
* Youngest boxer, age 7, oldest boxer, age 50.
* It was cool seeing so many boxers but watching young kids clobber each other didn’t sit well with me. I love boxing but something about seeing an 8-year-old kid get knocked out freaks me out.
* 2 players stopped in mid game because they forgot to put in their cup (crotch protector).. so funny!
* Over 200 people in attendance and I was the only non-Asian (dare I say the “f” word)
* Watched over 70 two-round games.
* Someone recognized me in the crowd from my appearance on TV.
* Had two boxing judges question Junior Mint about who I was.
* Met the head ref for the tournament and he said he wanted to ref my next game.
* It was interesting to note that there were no female matches.
* Witnessing my club fighters fight felt so exhilarating... like it was our fight.
* Getting to be the corner coach assistant for my fighters was a great first for me.

4. Hanging out in Seoul with the five high school boys was pretty cool and a lot more fun than I had expected. Each of them knew a bit of English and so together they were able to carry on quite the conversations with me. We talked about things like school and boxing. I teased them about their girlfriends, we chatted about what Canada is like, and who we thought was going to win each fight.

5. Only two of our club fighters were fighting today, Sunny Boy and Gun Shot. Gun Shot’s win was a for sure but I had come to support Sunny Boy. Having watched him go from plump and insecure to fit and more confident, I’ve become somewhat attached to him at the club. He’s still kind of the under dog in his group of friends but he tries hard and he really loves boxing. Today was his first ever boxing match.

6. In some ways I see myself in him and so when he lost his fight today, it felt like my fight all over again. He tried hard to push back the tears as they raised the other boy’s hand but I knew his heart had shattered. He left the ring and headed to the bathroom. I told the other boys to go look after him and when he returned, I sat down with him to tell him I understood. He had come to my fight in February and saw me lose in front of hundreds of people, news paper journalists, sponsors, and on live TV, so if anyone knew how he felt at that very moment, it was me. I didn’t want to tell him that it was ok cause it wasn’t ok. Losing is never ok or acceptable after months of training, dieting and constantly being pushed to the limit both physically and mentally. Some of us take the game very personally, Sunny Boy and me included. It took me a good couple of months before I could even look at my team mates face to face. I told him that it’s not ok and that yes, it does sucks, but even though he may never really get over it, he’ll learn to be better for next time.

7. Gun Shot, as expected, won his fight and I kind of felt sorry for Sunny Boy when it happened. He sat there curled up on his seat beside the ring while the other high school boys jumped up and down and Junior Mint hugged Gun Shot.

8. It had been a super long chilly day and having to sit in an over sized stadium with all the doors and windows open was uncomfortable. But it was a good day. I got to see a lot of really talented amateur boxers… and a lot of not-so-talented amateur boxers too. Some kids in the stands recognized me and so once in awhile they’d shout my name. One of the refs turned around to ask Junior Mint why those boys were shouting my name; he thought I was some kind of celebrity. Hearing Junior Mint tell him that I was a professional boxer sounded great but with it I felt the weight of my club suddenly thrown on my shoulders. I’ll be having my chance to redeem myself soon and it is spooking the heck out of me. I love boxing and I love the intensity and seriousness of the sport, but I can’t afford to lose this time. Boxing broke my heart once and I’m not going to let that happen again… I can’t!!!

9. By the time I arrived back at home, it was late and I was in desperate need of a shower. I had the chills. One of my coworkers had texted me, asking me to come join her. I was so exhausted but promises of oatmeal lured me out and within an hour of arriving home, I was once again heading out.

10. I got oatmeal!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And walking downtown with it, I carefully protected it under my arm. It was this massive zip lock bag of oatmeal but it looked like drugs.... hehehe.

QUESTION OF THE DAY…
When is it ever ok to lose?

QUOTE OF THE DAY…
The more you sweat in practice, the less you bleed in battle.
-- Author Unknown

With prices like $14 for a measly magazine, you won’t have to worry about foods that make you lose weight while you eat because you won’t be able to buy food after you buy the magazine and a $5 coffee... yikes.

Highlights of my Day... Friday, October 24

1. Headed over to Hongik in the morning for weight training. I had taken a break from weight training, partly because I’ve been lacking any kind of motivation to do anything that involves seeing students outside of school ever since my student killed himself. My couple of days break turned into a week and then another week, all because I didn’t know how to tell them the real reason I hadn’t been coming.

2. While training arms, I was pleasantly interrupted by my friend the one-armed ajjuma… ok, ok, so I really shouldn’t call her that but that’s what she is. She only has one arm and, let me tell you, she loves joking about it. I remember when I first met her. She tested me by asking me to tie a towel around her elbow (that’s where her arm ends). Anyways, I like seeing her at the gym cause she always picks up my training log, looks it over, and then says something funny. Usually her comments to me include “I love you” or “Amy s-line” and so she’s quite the funny gal. Today she kind of freaked me out though. I was doing shoulder presses when she sat behind me on my workout bench and outlined my back with her finger. I almost dropped my weights. “Wow… so good” is all she said and so I didn’t know what to do buy laugh.

3. Raced to the bus terminal and got my bus ticket to Seoul with just enough time. Ended up sitting beside this total Korean rock star look-a-like who I was so tempted to take his picture but didn’t… I really should have though!!!

4. Tutoring went good and so in a couple of weeks I’ll be having my level exam, very cool. I raced off to the bookstore in anticipation of buying the next level’s book but it wasn’t in stock. What I did end up finding though was an Oxygen magazine and a Cosmopolitan magazine. I very rarely read magazines like Cosmopolitan and am more of a fitness or National Geographics kind of girl, but my desperate craving for English persuaded me to buy it.

5. Shilling out $26 for two magazines was definitely painful!!!

6. This whole no-sound thingy that’s going on with my computer is quite painful too. I eagerly searched my house for any kind of nose maker today. I had downloaded some songs a while back on my cell phone but listening to six songs non-stop for about an hour got to me. Sorry Mariah, but I can only take your “Touch my Body” song for so long… hehehe.

7. Low and behold, what did I find but a world receiver radio one of my bosses at the club I worked at in Toronto gave me as a going away gift. Popped some batteries in that bad boy and cranked it up. It apparently is able to pick up radio waves from all over the world and so I get quite the range of channels but the clearest, of course, being channels here in Asia.

8. Just the other day I had ordered myself my Christmas present online at BodyBuilding.com well, I got a phone call today. It has arrived! Mind ya, it’s waiting for me at the border as I now have to wire them money for the repackaging fee. Ahhhh… I went through this very same problem last time. BodyBuilding is definitely going to get an earful from this Pollack!

9. Ran into Black Skinny tonight at training. He loves teasing me about how I make a hissing sound when I punch. It’s not really an uncommon thing but I know I should be breathing through my nose as supposed to my mouth. Anyways, he loves teasing me about it but tonight I turned the joke on him by calling him father. He’s still a newly wed but is now expecting his first child and so I thought it’d be funny to tease him about sounds he’ll be hearing soon… hehehe. I told him, “if you think my hissing sound is funny, just wait till you get your baby!” and with that I broke out into the loudest baby cry I could have possibly imitate. Everyone but him bursted out laughing. “Ya… my hissing isn’t so funny now is it?!”… hehehe. Poor guy, I really shouldn’t tease him after all, they say a baby is a blessing. Not too sure who “they” are but I’ll take their word for it.

10. Watched a not-so-great movie tonight after training when I should had been going to bed early. Tomorrow I’m going to a big boxing tournament in Seoul and accompanying two of the club’s amateur boxers. The tournament is a weekend-long event and they were scheduled to fight on Sunday but the schedule has been changed and now I have to wake up at 4:30am for it… yikes. I knew full well that I should have skipped Pierce Brosnan and his super cheesy Butterfly movie. It was pretty bad.

QUESTION OF THE DAY…
Who kills a butterfly in a wheel… what does this mean?

QUOTE OF THE DAY…
Just like the butterfly, I too will awaken in my own time.
-- Deborah Chaskin

One of my fears of staying too long in this country is sporting the typical ajjuma (older woman) hair cut: the short bob with the awful curly perm.

My fear for the day was slipping, falling and breaking my neck as I snuck into my own apartment while they waxed the floors.

Highlights of my Day... Thursday, October 23

1. It was joked about today that I’m not to be allowed to watch over someone’s child as apparently I’d easily trade it for a measly cup of oatmeal… oh come on. Like anyone in Korea has oatmeal… hehehe.

2. Final day of midterm exams and it was definitely nice to end it off with my all-boys class. They really tried hard, put in a lot of effort, and honestly, I was quite surprised. They kicked my other Thursday’s class’ butt… totally!!!

3. I was most intrigued by this one particular student who had worked himself up so much for the exam. He arrived super early for his exam but shook like crazy throughout it. I was so distracted by his nervous twitches, his stuttering voice, his constant clearing of his throat, and the fact that you could see his knees shaking through his pant legs. Once in a while he’d kick out his leg, as if to kick away the shakes he was struggling with. I found the whole situation rather cute. I knew it wasn’t funny that he was so nervous but I thought it flattering and admirable that he was so serious about my exam.

3. Arrived home after work today to blocked off elevators and tape plastered over certain floor numbers in the elevators, my number included. Turns out I missed the notice about them waxing the hall floors. I managed to sneak up to my floor, via the stairwell, and I with the staff waxing away but with their backs to me, I snuck into my apartment. I’m sure the footprints leading to my apartment will label me as quilty for messing up their floor.

4. Once in my apartment however, I realized something… I can’t leave! I was then stuck in my apartment until the scheduled time, 12:30-5pm, was up. And so, with nothing really to do inside, I went into clean-freak mode and cleaned everything in my apartment, including Mi Nam.

5. I’ve thought up a seemingly painless, quick, efficient and genius way on how exactly I can go about leaving Korea without all the fuss and mess… get Q to sign my housing contract when it comes up for renewal in February! I’m seriously thinking about returning to Canada next year and so I told Q that if he agrees to take my apartment off my hands than I’ll stick around till the summer. Moreover, cause of Q’s Mokcheon simple-boy ways, promising him my stuff when I leave is a sheer bonus for him, after all, where he’s staying now (floor 5 of my building), his house appliances and whatnot consist of a table, a beat-up TV, and a rack to hang his wet, washed clothes on. Unlike him however, I’ve accumulated quite the stash of things here, ranging from a $2000 TV and a $200 plant, to custom made shelf units, a whole whack of dishes, a rice cooker, blender that could chop up bricks if you wanted it too (..hehehe), and a full desk unit with an accompanying shelf unit.

6. The big problem here is that I can’t get my contract deposit money until I leave the building, or sign my apartment over to someone else’s name. But between the end of my work contract and my housing contract (and when I’d actually get all my money from both parties, there's at least a month.

7. I was smart in the summer when I decided to open a bank account in Canada during vacation but now I’m faced with the problem of getting all this money to Canada. I figure I’ll have to stick around a bit to transfer it cause walking over the border with this much cash would definitely cause the flashing lights to go crazy. Junior Mint joked today and said I could live at the boxing club, I’m there all the time anyways, but I can’t do that… so silly. So now the problem is in Q’s

8. Well fall weather is definitely here and so my fall leather boots have already been broken in, my wools have been pulled out from back of my closet, and my winter coat has been sent to the dry cleaners. Tonight I got out another fall item… my dampboo. I think Dampboo translates to sweat jacket… sweat being the key word here cause that’s exactly what it makes you do, sweat like a mad man!!!

9. Putting on the dampboo at boxing is a sure sign of either one or two things. It means you either have a game coming up or it’s fall. Junior Mint likes to keep the club windows open all year round and so this means in the summer you die from the blazing sun shining in and then freeze in the winter with the cold winds that blow in. The dampboo, however, within a matter of minutes of training, your body temperature soars and the sweat starts coming down.

10. Turns out my dampboo today was a sign for BOTH things: it’s fall and I have a game coming up. Now the game date is not definite yet but it’s scheduled for sometime in December and with Christmas being the end of December, I take it the game with probably be in the first two weeks, giving me but only a month and a bit to train.

QUESTION OF THE DAY...
What is money to you?

QUOTE OF THE DAY...
A bank is a place that will lend you money if you can prove that you don't need it.
-- Bob Hope

I don’t care what anyone says, my students are by far the coolest!!!

Highlights of my Day... Wednesday, October 22

1. My nursing students, God bless their beautiful souls for trying so hard with their English midterm!!! I arrived at the medical building today and all around me I was surrounded by nursing students prepping each other for their speaking exam. They cluttered in the halls, sat in the stair wells, and quizzed each other in the bathroom… I felt so proud.

2. Nervous students always hit a weak spot with me. They remind me of how I was as a student, back in the day. I was quite competitive, to say the least, and so I love seeing students all worked up for my exams and quizzes. While some students expressed their stress by biting their nails, others paced back and forth in the halls, fiddled with their pens, read and re-read their exam conversation, and whatnot. I know they’re stressed but I take that as a very, very positive sign. After all, if they didn’t care about my exam they wouldn’t be so stressed. Sometimes stress IS good.

3. I have to laugh at myself for assigning a partner exam when I think back of having to do partner assignments in school. I use to curse the teacher under my breath every time they announced another partner assignment. I was always stuck with the slacker partner cause, for the most part, my peers knew of my good grades. I learned the hard way to stop boasting about my good grades when I was assigned a partner project in grade 10 enriched French class.

4. School was always serious stuff for me and I remember I got down right down and nasty in OAC (grade 13) accounting class. I sat beside a guy I knew from the church youth group, a real wangtta back in the day, and so our teacher made us work together for our year end final project. We had decided to focus on my dad’s company but soon enough, like always, I got stuck doing all the work. Three weeks into the project however, my partner decided to quit school… and take the project with him. Great, just what I needed. He was just one credit short of graduating and so I had no idea why he decided to quit but at last I was free to do things my own way, minus the original draft. A couple of weeks before the project was due though, this same very student, my former partner, decided to return to school cause of a deal he had made with the teacher, the deal being that this project would earn him his high school diploma.

5. I refused to let him take credit for the project I did. I made a big stink about it and he never got to graduate that year. Call me evil, I don’t care. You get what you earn and besides the big fat goose egg he definitely earned, a well-deserved kick to the head should have also been given to him for leaving me high and dry.

6. In between bopping around my house in the morning belting out some tunes and then coming home from work, my computer decided it didn’t want to work anymore. I guess my singing got to it and so for some reason, I blame it on my bad singing, my computer has no sound!!!

7. … and… oh the horror… my lengthy lists of songs and play lists went away too!!!

8. I tell ya, sometimes I really envy my parents for being born in the generation that wasn’t so dependent on technology, when typerwriters were the in thing and phones were simply meant for phoning friends. Nowdays, technology is running the show… and spoiling it too. Whether it’s computers crashing, cell phones being linked to impatience and flat out bad manners, digital door locks that decide to die and leave you locked out, digital cameras that easily get misplaced because of their small size, iPods that lead to partial deafness, or digital wash machines that automatically locked when started, forcing you to wait out and watch your wallet in the spin cycle, technology was meant to save us time but it’s doing the opposite, plus more.

9. And so, tonight I was stuck to listening to my own thoughts and Mi Nam’s chewing. I would have put on the radio, but, the radio link is on my computer and I already established that the sound isn’t working…. so… ya. Not fun.

10. With Christmas about two months away, it was nice to get my business cards at work today so that I can hand them out and help direct the presents my way… hehehe, just joking… or am I?! Often on my homepage I get random people asking me what I need and offering to send me particular things and so I thought that I’d make a simple Christmas Western-stuff wish list and post it, along with my school address to see if anyone out there in this massive world would be so sweet to send me something. Two years ago my ex threw out my Christmas tree that my mom had sent me and so Christmas hasn’t been the same. It hasn’t been the same since I left Canada that is and the longer I stay here, the more I am forgotten at Christmas. Not to give you a big long woo-is-me sad story but it’s true… I’m sure MANY foreigners can relate with this. No more presents wait for me on Christmas morning. I get my annual gift from my parents and a small something from whatever guy I happen to be dating at the time. Christmas isn’t really big to Koreans but I’m not Korean… it’s big to me. So I’m curious, will any stranger brighten my Christmas with an unexpected Christmas gift. Big or small, I don’t care. At this point, a post-it note with a misspelled Merry Christmas would be a bonus, and how sad is that?!

My Christmas Western-stuff Wish List:
A rope tug toy (relax… it’s for Mi Nam)
Oatmeal
Lady Speed
Stick deodorant
Crest
toothpaste
Lucky Charms cereal
straws
whole wheat tortilla shells
Trident gum
Nature Valley granola bars
Oxygen Fitness magazines
a flexible metal finger brace
Red Rose tea
Vicks cough
syrup
Nitequil

My office address:
Professor Amy-Michelle
Dankook University
Humanities Building, room 111-1
San 29, Anseo-Dong,
Cheonan, Chungchungnam-Do, South Korea
330 714

QUESTION OF THE DAY...
What do you want for Christmas?

QUOTE OF THE DAY...
The best of all gifts around any Christmas tree: the presence of a happy family all wrapped up in each other.
-- Burton Hillis

To tell you the truth, I was quite sceptical about him making a meal out of tofu but it turned out really, really delicious!!!

His recipe consisted of tofu, onions, red pepper paste, almonds, and large green leaves that I still don’t know what they’re called.

Highlights of my Day... Tuesday, October 21

1. Waking up at 5:30am to play "house" wasn't really on my list of things to do today but I've been really trying to help Q out. He usually wakes up with just enough time to shower, a shower I should mention consists of bone-chilling cold water cause he's all about saving money. I'm convinced he's the Korean younger version of my father... hehehe. So, I've been telling him to come to my house for his showers and, while he showers, I make him breakfast.

2. Today's menu: one egg sandwich with 3 egg whites and one yoke on whole wheat bread, with one persimmon and a glass of milk…. And a side order of my Polish cuteness… hehehe.

3. Headed back to bed and woke up a bit late. I had a staff meeting to get to by 8:30am and so Mi Nam's usual twenty minute walk was forced into being a seven minute all-out sprint.

4. Got to my staff meeting in time and it wasn't until we all headed up to the meeting that I got wind of the rumors that had been on the tips of everyone's tongue... everyone but mine that is. I was totally out of the loop and I thank my ear phones for that. I've made it my new rule to not pay attention to the staff room gossip and talk. Mind ya, this also means I'm out of the loop with other things but the way I look at is that if I was meant to know something, they'd send me an email or write it up on the board.

5. Staff meeting was quite stressful, to say the least. It was supposed to be about contract renewals and so I was thrown for a bit of a loop when the Dankook University Dean announced that we'd be running an English immersion camp during our two yearly vacations. They say it won't be in full effect or full attendance for the next year or so and so I'm not too worried. I don't plan on staying here and so I see no real need to get all stressed about it.

6. Midterms continued today with my students. The characters in today's conversation involved an overworked full time mom/wife, and a husband that's more concerned with his job than his roles as a father and husband. It made for some really interesting presentations as students tried their hardest to make their rendition of the conversation unique.

7. Major props to the two male students in my one class who took the conversation up a notch and added some "interesting" lines, one of which included a slap to the face at the end. And let me tell you this, it was definitely a realistic slap. The slap seemed to echo in the classroom and the gasping look on the one boy's face was priceless.

8. Well, I didn't end up meeting with the Gangster Oppa last night but I did however run into him today at training. He was super apologetic about not meeting up with me last night but honestly, I kind of expected him to cancel on me. Q was all happy that he did, too.

9. Training today meant being the oldest, the biggest, (and I’m hoping) the strongest among a boxing club packed with middle school boys. My arms were bigger than most their legs… hehehe.

10. Waking up super early to make Q breakfast meant I arrived home to an unexpected and very pleasant surprise... a handsome Korean man cooking me supper. While I was at boxing, Q finished work, picked up some groceries and then came over to my house to cook me dinner. I was definitely impressed... it was exactly what I needed.

QUESTION OF THE DAY...
Why do we say goodbye when we leave, I mean, what's so good about goodbyes?

QUOTE OF THE DAY...
Don't get your knickers in a knot. Nothing is solved and it just makes you walk funny.
-- Kathryn Carpenter

How ever you want to do it, you gotta get your daily protein. I’ve never been one to lean on protein shakes before, nor do I plan to, but with waking up late and a boyfriend who tends to eat my food, I rather grab a shake or bar than skip my breakfast.
Skipping breakfast… a big NO-NO!!!

Highlights of my Day... Monday, October 20

1. I’m a genius… hehehe. Seriously, making my midterm for my English speaking class a partner exam was pure genius. It means I chopped my time in half. Having to meet with 250 students got chopped down to only 125 pairs… sweet.

2. Exams today were short, sweet and painless… nice!!!

3. Definitely have to send out a big shout-out to my first period students who blazed through their exam like pro stars despite them being, well, not quite the “model students” during my regular lectures with them.

4. The conversation my students had to perform today was between a restaurant owner that a rude customer mistakes as a mere waiter and goes off on a tangent because they found a hair in their food. Some of my students brought in props while others definitely used their lungs to help add heat to the argument. A couple of the boys took it to a whole different level by having their customer slap the owner, while a few of the pairs wrote their own ending to the conversation. I was definitely impressed and I can say, for the first time, that exams were a lot of fun!!!

5. Marking two classes worth of exams took a little less than an hour and so that was definitely an added bonus to sweeten the deal.

6. At boxing today I was bombarded by so many people repeating the same thing, “Amy Canada no… please.” Junior Mint knew full well that I’d be showing up around 3pm for boxing and so he had prepped everyone on what to say to me when I arrived. Even the other wangtta at the club (the half Japanese/Korean hottie) that never talks and who no one talks to, came up to me and to tell me not to go to Canada.

7. I use to always say that if you didn’t know the answer to a question than the answer is probably no, but… what is the question I am asking? Am I done with Korea? Am I ready for Canada? Why is it so hard for me to figure this out?! I blame it on Q and the fact that I have no idea on what kind of job I’d pick up in Canada. I’ve finally found someone who loves me for all my flaws (and stupid dance moves that are somewhat dangerous… hehehe). Q supports me with my boxing even though it stresses him out to see me getting drilled at training, he’s super proud of me, totally adores me, and he’s the only guy I’ve ever met who always greets me with a warm honest smile. It took me to step away from him to realize what I really have and I don’t want to give him up but he’ll never move to Canada and I’m super against growing old in Korea. However, the thought of starting all over again just freaks me out and turns me off. It’s much easier for me to stay here but is here where I am supposed to be and the longer I wait with deciding this, doesn’t it just further complicate things?!!!

8. As if Junior Mint forcing everyone to bother me about it at boxing wasn’t enough, he then took it a step further and text messaged me after training… and then he EMAILED me!!! He continually begged me at training tonight to give Korea one more year but that’s how this all started. I came here thinking “only one year”, but my “only one” turned into “only two”… “only three”, and now, almost four years later, I AM STILL HERE!!!

9. On a different note, I bought my Christmas present tonight. I do this every year, buy myself something special that I really want. Let’s see, there was the grand I dropped on my leather coat with fur trimming, adopting Mi Nam, and a trip to Hong Island. I figured that my wangtta ways would make it impossible for me to make friends with an American soldier by Christmas and so getting on base to splurge at GNC would be impossible. So… I splurged online and bought myself a fitness freak’s delight… triple strength fish fat pills, mango peach isopure (protein shake mix), 42 packs of universal animal cuts, mocha cappuccino protein mix, and two boxes of Supreme Protein Carb Conscious Quadruple bars in caramel nut chocolate… delicious!!!

10. According to Q, Mi Nam smells like a walking potato chip… not like those “garden salad” chips, though. He insists that I need to shower Mi Nam. Am I a freak for liking how he smells?!

QUESTION OF THE DAY...
When is it quiting and when is it called finished?

QUOTE OF THE DAY...
Indecision becomes decision with time.
-- Author Unknown

Whether it’s Puma or Pama, I ain’t touching it. I’m an Adidas-fanatic, true to the core. I do love the Koreans for their Konglish though. It’s always a good giggle.

… and what “marine products” would this entail?! Perhaps a few chunks of metal, maybe a nice fishing hook… what?!

Highlights of my Day... Sunday, October 19

1. Waking up to Mi Nam puking on my bedspread wasn’t exactly how I wanted to wake up, nor was it very pleasant. It was quite disturbing actually. Turns out the little guy got the munchies and so, while I slept the hours away, he ate one of my candles… nice.

2. Sundays are usually my kimchi-jjigga days… I love kimchi-jjigga… but trying to find someone to deliver it today was brutal and so I had to shower up, get dolled up, and then go out for it.

3. Next week my students start their midterms and so I took full advantage today of not having to prepare a Power Point lesson by lounging around the house and watching a rented movie. We had rented “Heart breaker Kid” with Ben Stiller, he’s hilarious. I use to think that my biggest fear with getting married was getting married to a possible cheater but now I think I might change my answer. My biggest fear with getting married is marrying someone I find out all too late who they really are. Check out the movie. It’s a good, funny flick.

4. Q and I headed over to Kyobo Books today. I wanted to stock up on some fresh ideas for my class and he wanted to check out some new books. We both parted ways and agreed to meet back at our spot in thirty minutes. I sat down on the floor, cozied up to a shelf and started picking out some books to browse through. No sooner had I started reading the first book but I was interrupted by two high school boys who recognized me from TV. They were super giggly but eagerly asked me a couple of questions about my boxing. I joked with them about giving them an autograph but then the one boy asked me for one. I was flattered. It doesn’t happen often that people ask me for my autograph but it’s happened a good dozen of times or so. I stood up, feeling quite proud, and then signed the book that the boy had in his hand.

5. Turns out I signed a book that didn’t even belong to the boy, nor was he planning to buy… hehehe. He ended up buying it though because of my signature… hehehe.

6. Getting an email from my university director about contract renewals kind of put a damper on the evening considering I’m still up in the air about it all. We’re having a meeting on Tuesday morning about contract renewals. My contract isn’t up until the end of February and so I thought I had more time to think of it, apparently not. Pressure is definitely on.

7. Q and I make quite the great team. I had asked him to help me mark my quizzes. I did the marking and then he entered the marks until my grading sheets. Two hours later and we finally finished about 500 quizzes. I keep on telling myself that I’ll hire my own personal assistant cause I can’t stand this marking business but with a little cutie (Q) sitting by my side and working on it with me, it ain’t so bad after all.

8. Oh gosh… Mi Nam was sick all day and when it wasn’t coming out his mouth (puke), it was coming out the other way and, unfortunately for Q and I, this meant he had mad, mad, crazy-mad gas…. Insane gas that I’m sure could wipe out a small country or kill an unsuspecting child!!!

9. I’m not one for junk food and I really don’t like potato chips but tonight I couldn’t resist buying the newest flavoured chip to hit the store shelves… garden salad potato chips… hehehe. First of all, why would you want a chip that taste like a salad and secondly, who are you really fooling, a potato chip is still a potato chip, no matter how healthy or not you want the flavour to taste like. Pizza flavoured chips are just as unhealthy as garden salad flavoured chips… hehehe.

10. And ya, for your information, it definitely didn’t taste like a garden salad.

QUESTION OF THE DAY…
If it walks like a duck and talks like a duck, why don’t people realize… it’s JUST a duck?

QUOTE OF THE DAY…
Vegetables are a must on a diet. I suggest carrot cake, zucchini bread, and pumpkin pie.
-- Jim Davis

Sporting our new threads… Q his Canadian Olympic team sweater I bought him this summer and me wearing the new black wool vest my mama gave me… sweet!

Highlights of my Day... Saturday, October 18

1. Word of the wise to all those Koreans out there reading this: I don’t like being pointed at and being called a foreigner. I don’t point at you and call you a Korean. You are a person, I am a person… fair enough?!

2. I thought I was being polite and friendly when a father and his two daughters stopped by the boxing club to ask Milk Dud about membership. I placed three pairs of slippers down on the floor for them, asked them politely to wait while I went and got someone to help them. Next thing I knew it, I was being treated like some kind of side-show freak show. As Milk Dud and the father talked, the two girls continued to bombard Milk Dud with questions about me and then they repeatedly pointed and said comments about me. I lasted a good ten minutes before I got fed up. I walked over to the couch where they were sitting and asked them, “Do you know who I am?” They replied with “a foreigner”. “No, I’m not a foreigner so be careful.” I said.

3. I hate the word “foreigner”. After living in Korea for almost 4 years can you really say I am still a foreigner? I know I’m not Korean but I probably know more about Cheonan then those little ankle-bitters. And what ever happened to just being called “a person”. I don’t want to be called a foreigner and treated like I’m on some kind of display. “Oh look… the foreigner can box… oh look, the foreigner eats kimchi… oh look, the foreigner can use chopsticks”. Oh please. On some days I’m so tempted to turn around, forget my manners and yell out, “Oh look, the Korean has no manners!”. So what I’m not Korean… congrats on the realization. It doesn’t take a brain surgeon to figure this one out.

4. This ended up causing quite the conversation between Milk Dud, Little Miss Sunshine and myself once the father and his goggly-eyed daughters left. It seems like everyday someone, some where here in Korea, singles me out or gives me the double-look because I’m… not Korean. I don’t even want to say that “f” word anymore; it drives me bonkers. Milk Dud tried to calm me down by adding “they look at you cause you’re pretty not because you’re a foreigner” but if that were true, then wouldn’t they call me “pretty girl” instead?!

5. To be brutally honest here, I don’t feel like I’m a “f” here and I don’t feel like I’m a Canadian either. I’m internationally homeless, or so it feels like. But regardless, it’d be nice to not be pointed at or talked about in front of my face. It’s rude, it’s uncomfortable, and it’s uncalled for. I can understand why children do it but young people and adults… come on. You can’t tell me they’ve never seen a non-Korean before or have never seen a Hollywood movie.

6. And so, on that note, I decided to skip out on tonight’s International Friendship dinner. A part of me wanted to go but it was the getting there that I had a problem with. Feeling like I’m constantly on this freak show parade kind of gets to a person after awhile.

7. I really wasn’t interested in venturing out to Seoul after last night’s crazy traffic stress. Moreover, promises of carb-infested pasta and over priced massive steak kind of killed my interest in the actual meal itself. It’d be nice to meet some new people, I guess, but having to answer, “So where are you from?” about a million times just seemed like a hassle. I’d give my usual “I’m from Cheonan” answer, where upon they’d give me a confused look and then probably repeat the question, hoping that I’d change my answer and tell them a country, like Canada or America. “I am from Cheonan. I teach English and that’s my story”.

8. Q laughed when I told him I didn’t want to go. He knew all along, he said, that I’d be cancelling. And so, instead of getting all dressed up to impress a bunch of people that I’d probably never ever talk to again, I got all dressed up to impress the one person I knew I’d talk to every single day in Korea… Q.

9. The newly revised agenda for the night consisted of a romantic dinner for two at A Bis, followed by a little ice cream to sweeten the night even more, and a cozy couch to cuddle with my two favourite Korean males, Mi Nam and Q, where we then watched a rented movie.

10. Cheonan, home of the walnut cake, Mi Nam, Q and me… and that’s 4 good reasons there why it’s so great. (Ok, so the walnut cake is only half a reason… hehehe.)

QUESTION OF THE DAY...
What do you see when you look at me?

QUOTE OF THE DAY...
Men in general judge more from appearances than from reality. All men have eyes, but few have the gift of penetration.
-- Niccolo Machiavelli