It's not how or where you celebrate the new year, what's more important is who you celebrate it with and the smile you ring in the new year with.
Happy New Year everyone ;)
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Highlights of my Day... December 31
1. Ah,the last day of 2008… it’s been an interesting year.
2. To sum up 2008 in two words, I think “unexpectedly whacked” would pretty much sum it up. I started this year off thinking that Korea was the country for me, thinking that I’d be here for at least another couple of years. Q and I would get married, we’d buy a house in Cheonan and I’d continue working at Dankook. But then I went to Canada in the summer and realized just how different my life is in Korea, how lonely it tends to be and how secluded I’ve made myself here. And that’s when I realized that having no one who calls me up to ask me how my day’s been, having no one to go on an early morning jog with, and having no one that really knows me beyond my first name and smile really, really sucks. I use to want more but was ok when I settled for less, now I need that more.
3. Finally got my hair cut. I think the last time I got my hair cut was right before I went to Canada for the summer.
4. Around mid-afternoon I got a phone call from someone very close to me, asking me to wire him a rather large lump sum of money. His mother had unexpectantly been taken to the hospital and so now he was faced with pretty hefty medical bills and expenses. I wired him the money even though Q’s eyes bulged out his head when he heard the amount. He said I was a bit off my rocker for even considering it. Mind you, considering who he is to me and the fact that he’s older than me, I knew he was depending on me to help him but was rather embarrassed to ask me for my help, and you know what, I think that’s why I was quick to help him.
5. At boxing today I got into a very weird, very unexpected, and very intense strange mood when I found myself in the center of a very loud Korean conversation by which I had no idea of what they were talking about. They were all laughing and giggling, so I started to giggle too. That’s when they turned to me and I blurted out (in Korean), “Oh I miss Canada... I miss English… I hate wangtta!” I have no idea where that came from but no sooner did I say it but my eyes swelled up with tears and so I quickly turned and started to pound away at the heavy bag. Junior Mint asked me if I was ok, by which I responded with “I am never really ok.”
6. Tonight’s plans for New Year’s Eve were kind of up in the air the whole day. I had been asked by a new friend of mine to join him out in Osan but I was kind of hesitant. I wanted to do something different tonight but wasn’t sure if hanging out in Little America with a bunch of testosterone high, drunk American men was really what I wanted to do. I wanted to go out but, and no offence to my new friend, but I really wanted to end the old year off with those I really love. So instead, I stayed in Cheonan and had a pretty low-key evening.
7. My New Year’s Eve celebrations started off right after I spent way too much time in the bathroom getting ready. I don't consider myself to be a particularly high-maintenance woman but I do take care of myself and like to look good. Tonight I sported my new stiletto leather boots, a mini-mini skirt with some leggings and an off-the-shoulder shirt, wavey hair, and some smokey eyes. I splurged on a very delicious meal, left my clean-eating at home, and treated myself to an overly expensive glass of wine. Mind ya, one glass was enough to send me into giggle mode and so for the rest of the evening I sported my perma-smile and was overly talkative… to everyone!
8. New Year’s Eve, Christmas, my birthday, and Thanksgiving are the four days of the year that I allow myself “freestyle eating”, as I call it, and so I headed over to Baskin Robins to buy the perfect ice cream cake, of which I should note that I was careful to only eat a sliver of. There was no way I wanted to start the new year off with any more poop horror stories than already experienced!!!
9. Being in the chatty-Cathy mood that the wine had brought about, I ended up saying some really silly things… hehehe. I told some crazy driver to watch her driving “… because you can’t afford to hit this Pollack!”, I got into a silly conversation with some pudgy dude at Baskin Robins over which flavour he should buy. I tried to convince him to buy the pumpkin cheesecake ice cream and told him that if he didn’t like it then I’d buy him his own Baskin Robins… hehehe. Then, as if my conversations weren’t entertaining my date enough, I told some dude in the elevator that he should tame down his hair gel and then I asked the GS 25 guy if he thought I was pretty…. Hehehe.
10. Time ticked away and before I knew it, I was checking the clock and low and behold in less than one minute it’d be midnight. “Oh my gosh.. one minute, one minute, one minute!” I yelled out as I scrambled to get the cake ready. At midnight I called up Junior Mint and, in my best attempt to remember how to say "Happy New Year's" in Korean, I yelled it out at the top of my lungs... hehehe. He responded with a huge laugh and a "I love you Amy!"... hehehe. So midnight came and then midnight left. The new year was finally here and there I was with two of my favourite Koreans in the comfort of my own house and with a huge smile on my face.
QUESTION OF THE DAY…
Have you already broken your new year’s resolutions?
QUOTE OF THE DAY…
May all your troubles last as long as your New Year's resolutions.
-- Joey Adams
My strongest memories of 2008:
- my first professional fight
- joining “The Club” in Busan
- having surgery
- feeling extreme homesick for the first time… and for a long time
- my student Du San’s suicide
- Junior Mint’s comeback fight
- turning into a wangtta
- the best summer vacation of my life!!! (Thanks Canada)
- family reunion
- my scooter accident in Daejon
- Panty Boy Jr. quitting our boxing team
- getting sponsored by the Cheonan Trump and Adidas
- being focused on two TV documentary shows
- watching Q cry over a book I wrote him
- the death of one of my best friend’s fathers
2. To sum up 2008 in two words, I think “unexpectedly whacked” would pretty much sum it up. I started this year off thinking that Korea was the country for me, thinking that I’d be here for at least another couple of years. Q and I would get married, we’d buy a house in Cheonan and I’d continue working at Dankook. But then I went to Canada in the summer and realized just how different my life is in Korea, how lonely it tends to be and how secluded I’ve made myself here. And that’s when I realized that having no one who calls me up to ask me how my day’s been, having no one to go on an early morning jog with, and having no one that really knows me beyond my first name and smile really, really sucks. I use to want more but was ok when I settled for less, now I need that more.
3. Finally got my hair cut. I think the last time I got my hair cut was right before I went to Canada for the summer.
4. Around mid-afternoon I got a phone call from someone very close to me, asking me to wire him a rather large lump sum of money. His mother had unexpectantly been taken to the hospital and so now he was faced with pretty hefty medical bills and expenses. I wired him the money even though Q’s eyes bulged out his head when he heard the amount. He said I was a bit off my rocker for even considering it. Mind you, considering who he is to me and the fact that he’s older than me, I knew he was depending on me to help him but was rather embarrassed to ask me for my help, and you know what, I think that’s why I was quick to help him.
5. At boxing today I got into a very weird, very unexpected, and very intense strange mood when I found myself in the center of a very loud Korean conversation by which I had no idea of what they were talking about. They were all laughing and giggling, so I started to giggle too. That’s when they turned to me and I blurted out (in Korean), “Oh I miss Canada... I miss English… I hate wangtta!” I have no idea where that came from but no sooner did I say it but my eyes swelled up with tears and so I quickly turned and started to pound away at the heavy bag. Junior Mint asked me if I was ok, by which I responded with “I am never really ok.”
6. Tonight’s plans for New Year’s Eve were kind of up in the air the whole day. I had been asked by a new friend of mine to join him out in Osan but I was kind of hesitant. I wanted to do something different tonight but wasn’t sure if hanging out in Little America with a bunch of testosterone high, drunk American men was really what I wanted to do. I wanted to go out but, and no offence to my new friend, but I really wanted to end the old year off with those I really love. So instead, I stayed in Cheonan and had a pretty low-key evening.
7. My New Year’s Eve celebrations started off right after I spent way too much time in the bathroom getting ready. I don't consider myself to be a particularly high-maintenance woman but I do take care of myself and like to look good. Tonight I sported my new stiletto leather boots, a mini-mini skirt with some leggings and an off-the-shoulder shirt, wavey hair, and some smokey eyes. I splurged on a very delicious meal, left my clean-eating at home, and treated myself to an overly expensive glass of wine. Mind ya, one glass was enough to send me into giggle mode and so for the rest of the evening I sported my perma-smile and was overly talkative… to everyone!
8. New Year’s Eve, Christmas, my birthday, and Thanksgiving are the four days of the year that I allow myself “freestyle eating”, as I call it, and so I headed over to Baskin Robins to buy the perfect ice cream cake, of which I should note that I was careful to only eat a sliver of. There was no way I wanted to start the new year off with any more poop horror stories than already experienced!!!
9. Being in the chatty-Cathy mood that the wine had brought about, I ended up saying some really silly things… hehehe. I told some crazy driver to watch her driving “… because you can’t afford to hit this Pollack!”, I got into a silly conversation with some pudgy dude at Baskin Robins over which flavour he should buy. I tried to convince him to buy the pumpkin cheesecake ice cream and told him that if he didn’t like it then I’d buy him his own Baskin Robins… hehehe. Then, as if my conversations weren’t entertaining my date enough, I told some dude in the elevator that he should tame down his hair gel and then I asked the GS 25 guy if he thought I was pretty…. Hehehe.
10. Time ticked away and before I knew it, I was checking the clock and low and behold in less than one minute it’d be midnight. “Oh my gosh.. one minute, one minute, one minute!” I yelled out as I scrambled to get the cake ready. At midnight I called up Junior Mint and, in my best attempt to remember how to say "Happy New Year's" in Korean, I yelled it out at the top of my lungs... hehehe. He responded with a huge laugh and a "I love you Amy!"... hehehe. So midnight came and then midnight left. The new year was finally here and there I was with two of my favourite Koreans in the comfort of my own house and with a huge smile on my face.
QUESTION OF THE DAY…
Have you already broken your new year’s resolutions?
QUOTE OF THE DAY…
May all your troubles last as long as your New Year's resolutions.
-- Joey Adams
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Regardless of my effort, my attempts at capturing the amazing make-up work of the MAC make-up artist just doesn't do him and his work justice.Highlights of my Day... Tuesday, December 30
1. I’m on holidays and yet I woke up at 5:45 this morning… something is definitely wrong with this picture… hehehe. I had Korean language class at 8:30am in Seoul and so it meant that I had to be on 7:30 bus. I got the 7:45am bus… dang!!!
2. Have you ever had one of those “twilight days”, when things just seem too strange?! Today was my twilight day and it all started when I missed my 7:30am bus by two minutes. I had gone to bed late and so I thought I’d treat myself to my weekly coffee. Popped in the money into the vending machine and out came coffee… and no cup!!!
3. No sooner had I missed my bus and drowned the bus terminal floor with coffee but I was approached by a business man who had taken it upon himself to buy me a coffee after seeing my scene. The coffee was only 50 cents but it made my day. Then on the bus the guy who sat beside me offered to check my Korean homework when he saw I was struggling on it… oh cool is that?!
4. After tutoring I had the weirdest conversation with a male MAC make-up artist who, had he not been gay, I would have thought he was hitting on me. I usually visit him every so often when I’m in Seoul. His make-up looks better than his coworkers… hehehe. Today I admitted to him why I visit him, I refuse to have my make-up done by a woman when I could careless what women think of me, it’s the men I want to look attractive too. Scored a free make-over… sweet… and then traveled back to Cheonan with my new smoky brown eyes.
5. I didn’t go into boxing today because I came back from Seoul late in the afternoon and I had a million and one chores to do in addition to preparing for tonight’s English winter camp class.
6. Ran into one of my former students, Vanessa, one of my middle school students from Eumbong who I had written a letter of recommendation for an overseas English home-stay program. It was outside of Yawoori where I ran into her. She called out my name and it wasn’t until she released me from her hug that I clued in. She’s only back in Korea for another week or so before she returns to the States and so I’m hoping to catch up with her before she goes.
7. Because of my wangtta ways and bubble life, I don’t really get random guys talking to me. Things are definitely different for me here on the flipside!!! Anyways, once in awhile I do get the occasional guy who tries his best line on me. Today’s “real” winner was some dude who wrote to me, “baby... not to be disrespectful.. but if you gave me one night you wouldn’t even want to know what I would do to your body...” Oh, come on... what does that mean?! Should I be scared? What…. Are you going to marinate me, or worse yet, send me home in a body bag or mini ziplock bags?! Come on guys… what ever happened to “Hi, how’s it going?”
8. My eyes spontaneously swelled up with tears tonight on the bus, and no, not because of the overly lame pick-up line I had experienced. I don’t even know why I felt like I was on the verge of busting out the tears and tissues… so strange.
9. My English winter camp class continues to be a lot of fun. The students have been so incredibly sweet to me and so I felt silly for being homesick earlier today. After class I stuck around and chatted with some of my students and one particular girl from another class.
10. Tomorrow’s New Year’s Eve and I have absolutely no plans except for wishing it wasn’t New Year’s Eve. This past year was definitely a roller coaster of a ride but next year, oh gosh, if what happens is what I predict with happen and I make it through it than wow, I deserve an award. 2009 will probably be my hardest year yet, but I have big plans for 2010.
QUESTION OF THE DAY...
How was 2008 for you?
QUOTE OF THE DAY...
Cheers to a new year and another chance for us to get it right.
-- Oprah Winfrey
2. Have you ever had one of those “twilight days”, when things just seem too strange?! Today was my twilight day and it all started when I missed my 7:30am bus by two minutes. I had gone to bed late and so I thought I’d treat myself to my weekly coffee. Popped in the money into the vending machine and out came coffee… and no cup!!!
3. No sooner had I missed my bus and drowned the bus terminal floor with coffee but I was approached by a business man who had taken it upon himself to buy me a coffee after seeing my scene. The coffee was only 50 cents but it made my day. Then on the bus the guy who sat beside me offered to check my Korean homework when he saw I was struggling on it… oh cool is that?!
4. After tutoring I had the weirdest conversation with a male MAC make-up artist who, had he not been gay, I would have thought he was hitting on me. I usually visit him every so often when I’m in Seoul. His make-up looks better than his coworkers… hehehe. Today I admitted to him why I visit him, I refuse to have my make-up done by a woman when I could careless what women think of me, it’s the men I want to look attractive too. Scored a free make-over… sweet… and then traveled back to Cheonan with my new smoky brown eyes.
5. I didn’t go into boxing today because I came back from Seoul late in the afternoon and I had a million and one chores to do in addition to preparing for tonight’s English winter camp class.
6. Ran into one of my former students, Vanessa, one of my middle school students from Eumbong who I had written a letter of recommendation for an overseas English home-stay program. It was outside of Yawoori where I ran into her. She called out my name and it wasn’t until she released me from her hug that I clued in. She’s only back in Korea for another week or so before she returns to the States and so I’m hoping to catch up with her before she goes.
7. Because of my wangtta ways and bubble life, I don’t really get random guys talking to me. Things are definitely different for me here on the flipside!!! Anyways, once in awhile I do get the occasional guy who tries his best line on me. Today’s “real” winner was some dude who wrote to me, “baby... not to be disrespectful.. but if you gave me one night you wouldn’t even want to know what I would do to your body...” Oh, come on... what does that mean?! Should I be scared? What…. Are you going to marinate me, or worse yet, send me home in a body bag or mini ziplock bags?! Come on guys… what ever happened to “Hi, how’s it going?”
8. My eyes spontaneously swelled up with tears tonight on the bus, and no, not because of the overly lame pick-up line I had experienced. I don’t even know why I felt like I was on the verge of busting out the tears and tissues… so strange.
9. My English winter camp class continues to be a lot of fun. The students have been so incredibly sweet to me and so I felt silly for being homesick earlier today. After class I stuck around and chatted with some of my students and one particular girl from another class.
10. Tomorrow’s New Year’s Eve and I have absolutely no plans except for wishing it wasn’t New Year’s Eve. This past year was definitely a roller coaster of a ride but next year, oh gosh, if what happens is what I predict with happen and I make it through it than wow, I deserve an award. 2009 will probably be my hardest year yet, but I have big plans for 2010.
QUESTION OF THE DAY...
How was 2008 for you?
QUOTE OF THE DAY...
Cheers to a new year and another chance for us to get it right.
-- Oprah Winfrey
Monday, December 29, 2008
Highlights of my Day... Monday, December 29
1. No sooner had I woken up but then Junior Mint was texting me, telling me to come into training. He was convinced that I’d score the fight and so he wanted to get a head start on my training and game prep.
2. Junior Mint’s intended game plan for me:
Junior Mint plans to push me, pull me, drive me to my limits (and probably drive me crazy too for that matter), make me eat –sleep – and breath boxing 24/7, all for 15 minutes on a chilly day in January, January 26th to be exact.
3. Found out some key stats of my opponent, that is if I get the fight. She’s a 26 year old Korean girl named Kim Na Kyoung who stands at 5ft 3” and weighs in at 51kgs. Turns out she’s had more games that I thought though; four wins and six loses. After training, Junior Mint, Q, and Milk Dud, and I sat down together to watch one of her taped fights and to dissect her style. She’s an out-fighter, my opposite and so that works good for me as long as I continue to get up in her face and hustle her.
4. Get this, if I win the fight, I’d gain her champion title… how awesome is that?! Mind ya, how controversial would that be, seriously… a “non-Korean” stealing Korea’s title and thunder on their own turf … yikes!!!
5. While Q and I were out playing dress-up with the hats at Home Plus, Junior Mint continued to argue with the Boxing Commission officials on the phone. Later he called me. They won’t let me fight her. The officials argued that it wasn’t “fair”… “oh come on” I said, who are they to pull this “it isn’t a fair fight” line!!! They never cared about fairness when that Chinese girl publicly made a fool out of that Korean girl in the ring and then made the Korean girl the winner. I see it all this all the time and it disgusts me. Everyone was fine with it and turned the other cheek until I came into the scene, scored my pro card in Korea and then fought on behalf of their country. Now all of a sudden they’re aware of the discrimination that was always there?! It’s the Korean flag I sport on my uniform when I fight, not that of Canada or Poland and so they don’t know what to think of me. Moreover, it was them who searched me out and asked if I could fight Na Kyoung but now they’re second-guessing their decision because the issue of her champion belt was brought up. Oh please… come on.
6. I need some kind of goal, I thought this fight would be exactly what I needed, a challenge. Needless to say, after I got the phone call I was quite frustrated and disappointed. And in my frustration I ended up blurting out, “I should just move to Busan and fight with the *****”, upon which Q asked me what that was all about. I didn’t want to tell him but ended up spilling my beans. He wasn’t impressed. I made him promise on his mother’s life that he wouldn’t speak a word of our conversation to Junior Mint and added, “If you dare tell him, don’t ever even so much think my name or look at me!”… a bit harsh but considering the situation, I needed to know he’d keep quiet.
7. Had some much craved for chumchi-jjigga (tuna stew) for lunch at a local restaurant where apparently the old ajjumas (women) working there are fans of Mi Nam. Turns out they watch me watch my dog everyday. In Korea, we think this is funny, in Canada, we’d call them freaks… hehehe.
8. Q’s mom called today with word that Q’s father had been attacked and mugged last night. The stolen bank cards and money can be replaced but they all stressed about his physical condition. On most days, Q’s father is ok but then he has a string of bad days because of a brain injury. After years of brain surgery and popping pills, he still has his good days and his bad days. Yesterday was a bad day. Thankfully though, today was a good day for him.
9. Headed over to the university for my evening English winter camp class. I gave them a vocabulary quiz and then we played Jeopardy. I had prepared this huge Power Point file for the game, even had the theme music playing in the background. The class loved it and I loved watching them love it… hehehe. Definitely a very successful class!!!
10. With Q now working night shifts, I’m home alone with my little boy in the evenings. Tonight I studied Korean while Mi Nam laid on my tummy.
QUESTION OF THE DAY...
What's fair about being unfair?
QUOTE OF THE DAY...
Every truth passes through three stages before it is recognized. In the first, it is ridiculed, in the second it is opposed, in the third it is regarded as self-evident.
-- Arthur Schopenhauer
2. Junior Mint’s intended game plan for me:
7am -8am – early morning jog
11am – come in for boxing training plus weight training
7pm – come back to boxing for daily sparring practice the high school boys
10pm – my bedtime
Junior Mint plans to push me, pull me, drive me to my limits (and probably drive me crazy too for that matter), make me eat –sleep – and breath boxing 24/7, all for 15 minutes on a chilly day in January, January 26th to be exact.
3. Found out some key stats of my opponent, that is if I get the fight. She’s a 26 year old Korean girl named Kim Na Kyoung who stands at 5ft 3” and weighs in at 51kgs. Turns out she’s had more games that I thought though; four wins and six loses. After training, Junior Mint, Q, and Milk Dud, and I sat down together to watch one of her taped fights and to dissect her style. She’s an out-fighter, my opposite and so that works good for me as long as I continue to get up in her face and hustle her.
4. Get this, if I win the fight, I’d gain her champion title… how awesome is that?! Mind ya, how controversial would that be, seriously… a “non-Korean” stealing Korea’s title and thunder on their own turf … yikes!!!
5. While Q and I were out playing dress-up with the hats at Home Plus, Junior Mint continued to argue with the Boxing Commission officials on the phone. Later he called me. They won’t let me fight her. The officials argued that it wasn’t “fair”… “oh come on” I said, who are they to pull this “it isn’t a fair fight” line!!! They never cared about fairness when that Chinese girl publicly made a fool out of that Korean girl in the ring and then made the Korean girl the winner. I see it all this all the time and it disgusts me. Everyone was fine with it and turned the other cheek until I came into the scene, scored my pro card in Korea and then fought on behalf of their country. Now all of a sudden they’re aware of the discrimination that was always there?! It’s the Korean flag I sport on my uniform when I fight, not that of Canada or Poland and so they don’t know what to think of me. Moreover, it was them who searched me out and asked if I could fight Na Kyoung but now they’re second-guessing their decision because the issue of her champion belt was brought up. Oh please… come on.
6. I need some kind of goal, I thought this fight would be exactly what I needed, a challenge. Needless to say, after I got the phone call I was quite frustrated and disappointed. And in my frustration I ended up blurting out, “I should just move to Busan and fight with the *****”, upon which Q asked me what that was all about. I didn’t want to tell him but ended up spilling my beans. He wasn’t impressed. I made him promise on his mother’s life that he wouldn’t speak a word of our conversation to Junior Mint and added, “If you dare tell him, don’t ever even so much think my name or look at me!”… a bit harsh but considering the situation, I needed to know he’d keep quiet.
7. Had some much craved for chumchi-jjigga (tuna stew) for lunch at a local restaurant where apparently the old ajjumas (women) working there are fans of Mi Nam. Turns out they watch me watch my dog everyday. In Korea, we think this is funny, in Canada, we’d call them freaks… hehehe.
8. Q’s mom called today with word that Q’s father had been attacked and mugged last night. The stolen bank cards and money can be replaced but they all stressed about his physical condition. On most days, Q’s father is ok but then he has a string of bad days because of a brain injury. After years of brain surgery and popping pills, he still has his good days and his bad days. Yesterday was a bad day. Thankfully though, today was a good day for him.
9. Headed over to the university for my evening English winter camp class. I gave them a vocabulary quiz and then we played Jeopardy. I had prepared this huge Power Point file for the game, even had the theme music playing in the background. The class loved it and I loved watching them love it… hehehe. Definitely a very successful class!!!
10. With Q now working night shifts, I’m home alone with my little boy in the evenings. Tonight I studied Korean while Mi Nam laid on my tummy.
QUESTION OF THE DAY...
What's fair about being unfair?
QUOTE OF THE DAY...
Every truth passes through three stages before it is recognized. In the first, it is ridiculed, in the second it is opposed, in the third it is regarded as self-evident.
-- Arthur Schopenhauer
Quick vent of my frustrations...
This is my "I'm-not-happy-and-I-want-to-bite-someone's-head-off" look.Got bad news today... I'll tell you later. Not in the mood right now.
Sunday, December 28, 2008
Highlights of my Day... Sunday, December 28
1. Did my usual hibernating in the house as long as I possibly could and then I ventured out to walk Mi Nam.
2. Mi Nam killed yet another one of his Christmas presents, a yellow smiley ball my mom had sent him.
3. All this hibernating in my house is drying up my skin and so today I went to Galleria to splurge on moisturizer. It was painful to shill out $159 for face serum and eye cream from Biotherm but the “sample”, as they called it, that I got as a bonus was well worth it!!! You can hardly consider it a sample considering the contents of it were well over $200 in value! Sweet!!!
4. Mi Nam slashed the corner of my eye open the other day when our wrestling and horse-playing got a bit out of hand and so the skin around my left eye looks a bit messed up still. Hopefully the Biotherm luxurious lotion will work it’s wonders… hehehe. Mind you, I guess getting repeatedly punched in the eye at boxing doesn’t really help my situation though.
5. Spent a good chunk of my afternoon trying to figure out how to make a Power Point file for tomorrow’s Jeopardy game I want to play with my winter camp night class. Finally figured it out… even added the classic Jeopardy theme music to it too… I’m a genius… hehehe.
6. Despite it being my one day off of training, despite the boxing club being closed, and despite having to wait till Monday for word as to whether or not I got that fight, Junior Mint texted me today and ordered me to go train.
7. My knuckles are still pretty mashed up from yesterday and so I stuck to doing weight training and an hour of skipping.
8. Black Skinny just scored another fight, a fight in Japan. It’s scheduled for some time May and so I’m hoping that I’ll be able to go with Black Skinny and Junior Mint. I'm jealous... not only did he score a for sure fight but it's in Japan and he'll be able to see Satoshi again!
9. Despite my love of teaching and the fact that I adore my students at Dankook, the more and more I think about it, the more and more I’d love to quit my teaching job and just focus on my boxing. I’ve saved up quite a bit of money and considering my lack of funds needed for my social life and bad habits (because of lack of both of them), I only really spend my money on food… well, that and lip gloss… hehehe. I’d love to kick my boxing into full gear and just have that on my plate. This is my last year in Korea and so it’d be wicked to do something different, something on my own terms and something that I’ll leave having no regrets.
10. Q is convinced that I need to audition for this TV show, it’s called “Truth or Lie”, or something like that. Sometimes Q comes to my house and watches it but I can’t stand it. The actors are brutal, seriously. Their bad acting is so distracting that I end up wandering away from the storyline and just laughing at their fake crying and over exaggerated emotions and body language. Working some kind of cheesy show wasn’t exactly what I had in mind though for something different but Q’s convinced that I’d be a hit on the show and so he’s insisting that I let him call the TV company… hehehe.
QUESTION OF THE DAY...
What would you do if you were in my shoes?
QUOTE OF THE DAY...
The trouble with using experience as a guide is that the final exam often comes first and then the lesson.
-- Author Unknown
2. Mi Nam killed yet another one of his Christmas presents, a yellow smiley ball my mom had sent him.
3. All this hibernating in my house is drying up my skin and so today I went to Galleria to splurge on moisturizer. It was painful to shill out $159 for face serum and eye cream from Biotherm but the “sample”, as they called it, that I got as a bonus was well worth it!!! You can hardly consider it a sample considering the contents of it were well over $200 in value! Sweet!!!
4. Mi Nam slashed the corner of my eye open the other day when our wrestling and horse-playing got a bit out of hand and so the skin around my left eye looks a bit messed up still. Hopefully the Biotherm luxurious lotion will work it’s wonders… hehehe. Mind you, I guess getting repeatedly punched in the eye at boxing doesn’t really help my situation though.
5. Spent a good chunk of my afternoon trying to figure out how to make a Power Point file for tomorrow’s Jeopardy game I want to play with my winter camp night class. Finally figured it out… even added the classic Jeopardy theme music to it too… I’m a genius… hehehe.
6. Despite it being my one day off of training, despite the boxing club being closed, and despite having to wait till Monday for word as to whether or not I got that fight, Junior Mint texted me today and ordered me to go train.
7. My knuckles are still pretty mashed up from yesterday and so I stuck to doing weight training and an hour of skipping.
8. Black Skinny just scored another fight, a fight in Japan. It’s scheduled for some time May and so I’m hoping that I’ll be able to go with Black Skinny and Junior Mint. I'm jealous... not only did he score a for sure fight but it's in Japan and he'll be able to see Satoshi again!
9. Despite my love of teaching and the fact that I adore my students at Dankook, the more and more I think about it, the more and more I’d love to quit my teaching job and just focus on my boxing. I’ve saved up quite a bit of money and considering my lack of funds needed for my social life and bad habits (because of lack of both of them), I only really spend my money on food… well, that and lip gloss… hehehe. I’d love to kick my boxing into full gear and just have that on my plate. This is my last year in Korea and so it’d be wicked to do something different, something on my own terms and something that I’ll leave having no regrets.
10. Q is convinced that I need to audition for this TV show, it’s called “Truth or Lie”, or something like that. Sometimes Q comes to my house and watches it but I can’t stand it. The actors are brutal, seriously. Their bad acting is so distracting that I end up wandering away from the storyline and just laughing at their fake crying and over exaggerated emotions and body language. Working some kind of cheesy show wasn’t exactly what I had in mind though for something different but Q’s convinced that I’d be a hit on the show and so he’s insisting that I let him call the TV company… hehehe.
QUESTION OF THE DAY...
What would you do if you were in my shoes?
QUOTE OF THE DAY...
The trouble with using experience as a guide is that the final exam often comes first and then the lesson.
-- Author Unknown
Saturday, December 27, 2008
Highlights of my Day... Saturday, December 27
1. Woke up today to a disturbing realization… in less than a week I’ll be turning 30!!! Oh my gosh, I’m literally 28 going on 30 because of the whole Korean age thing-a-ma-jig, that sucks!
2. Korean age and western age, two different numbers. Here’s the lowdown on how Koreans calculate age:
3. I guess returning to Canada is looking better and better now that I know it means I’ll be gaining back two years of my life and won’t take me to 40 before I’m due… yikes… hehehe.
4. Got a phone call from Junior Mint; he had a Christmas present for me. His gift, a fight!!! No sooner did I get off the phone with him but I headed over to the boxing club, only to have the fight taken away from me. Turns out my opponent is on a much higher level than me and, based on my track record, I’m not allowed to fight a six-round fight yet or fight her. She’s a fan favourite who’s fought my former team mate, Min Young, two times and won both times. This would be her 7th or 8th fight.
5. Q called me and urged me not to take the fight. I knew all beats would be against me winning but that’s kind of why I wanted it. It’d be such a wicked challenge. I’d have nothing to lose if I lost but so much to gain if I won. I’d definitely be the underdog who’d be frowned upon and expected to lose. I don’t really have a choice now though, whether or not I want the fight. The officials made it quite clear on the phone that I’m not allowed to fight this match.
6. … but that didn’t stop Junior Mint. Leave it to Junior Mint to keep his 110% faith in me. If there’s anyone in this entire world that would believe in me to the very end, it’d be him. I think he believes in me more than I believe in myself actually. Junior Mint ended up spending the next hour calling the boxing commission office in Seoul and my opponent’s manager, trying to work out some kind of deal to let me fight. Talks ended around 5:30pm and ended with the boxing commission promising Junior Mint they’ll have a meeting about this on Monday when the office reopens.
7. It was rather nerve racking having to train while Junior Mint sat just feet away from me talking about me on the phone and calling up my sponsors. Nothing is quite as humbling though, than having to call up MBC Sports (major sports channel here who I have an arrangement and promise with), telling them I have a fight and then having to call them back up to tell them that it’s cancelled… and then calling AGAIN, a third time, to tell them that it’s a maybe.
8. I really want this fight... I need this fight.
9. With less than a month away from the fight that’s a “maybe” till Monday, Junior Mint made me do extra rounds on the heavy bag. Both him and I were so frustrated and so while he took it by pacing around the club, I took it out on the sand bags, minus any boxing gloves on… and I definitely have the bloody knuckles to prove it.
10. In sadder news, Mi Nam’s new beloved toy that he instantly became obsessed with... that blue chew toy my mom mailed him… died today. He’s still very much in love with it but it no longer makes it’s squeaky noise. I don’t know what happened but it’s just a noiseless blue chew toy now.
QUESTION OF THE DAY...
Have you ever wanted something so badly?
QUOTE OF THE DAY...
The first and greatest victory is to conquer yourself; to be conquered by yourself is of all things most shameful and vile.
-- Plato
2. Korean age and western age, two different numbers. Here’s the lowdown on how Koreans calculate age:
A baby is in their mother’s womb for approximately 9 months, which is just short of a year, and so when the baby is born they consider it one year old.
However, and this is the confusing part, when the new year comes (January 1st), that same baby turns one… along with everyone else that is. We ALL turn one year older on January 1st. Not really sure on how to explain that but, and here’s the really confusing part, a baby born on January 1st, 2008 and a baby born on December 31st, 2008 will both be two years old on January 1st, 2009 despite the first baby being one year old and the other being one day old.
Soooooo… this explains why when you ask a young Korean kid “how old are you?”, they’re a bit stumped for the answer. I can understand the whole idea of a baby being one when it’s born but the New Year’s thing I can’t really grasp. So when that confused kid answers, “I am 8 years old”, in western age they’re probably 6 or 7.
3. I guess returning to Canada is looking better and better now that I know it means I’ll be gaining back two years of my life and won’t take me to 40 before I’m due… yikes… hehehe.
4. Got a phone call from Junior Mint; he had a Christmas present for me. His gift, a fight!!! No sooner did I get off the phone with him but I headed over to the boxing club, only to have the fight taken away from me. Turns out my opponent is on a much higher level than me and, based on my track record, I’m not allowed to fight a six-round fight yet or fight her. She’s a fan favourite who’s fought my former team mate, Min Young, two times and won both times. This would be her 7th or 8th fight.
5. Q called me and urged me not to take the fight. I knew all beats would be against me winning but that’s kind of why I wanted it. It’d be such a wicked challenge. I’d have nothing to lose if I lost but so much to gain if I won. I’d definitely be the underdog who’d be frowned upon and expected to lose. I don’t really have a choice now though, whether or not I want the fight. The officials made it quite clear on the phone that I’m not allowed to fight this match.
6. … but that didn’t stop Junior Mint. Leave it to Junior Mint to keep his 110% faith in me. If there’s anyone in this entire world that would believe in me to the very end, it’d be him. I think he believes in me more than I believe in myself actually. Junior Mint ended up spending the next hour calling the boxing commission office in Seoul and my opponent’s manager, trying to work out some kind of deal to let me fight. Talks ended around 5:30pm and ended with the boxing commission promising Junior Mint they’ll have a meeting about this on Monday when the office reopens.
7. It was rather nerve racking having to train while Junior Mint sat just feet away from me talking about me on the phone and calling up my sponsors. Nothing is quite as humbling though, than having to call up MBC Sports (major sports channel here who I have an arrangement and promise with), telling them I have a fight and then having to call them back up to tell them that it’s cancelled… and then calling AGAIN, a third time, to tell them that it’s a maybe.
8. I really want this fight... I need this fight.
9. With less than a month away from the fight that’s a “maybe” till Monday, Junior Mint made me do extra rounds on the heavy bag. Both him and I were so frustrated and so while he took it by pacing around the club, I took it out on the sand bags, minus any boxing gloves on… and I definitely have the bloody knuckles to prove it.
10. In sadder news, Mi Nam’s new beloved toy that he instantly became obsessed with... that blue chew toy my mom mailed him… died today. He’s still very much in love with it but it no longer makes it’s squeaky noise. I don’t know what happened but it’s just a noiseless blue chew toy now.
QUESTION OF THE DAY...
Have you ever wanted something so badly?
QUOTE OF THE DAY...
The first and greatest victory is to conquer yourself; to be conquered by yourself is of all things most shameful and vile.
-- Plato
Friday, December 26, 2008
Mi Nam not looking too happy that he's been forced to wear his new jacket. It's more of a love-hate relationship he has with it actually. He hates it cause, well, I'm sure most animals would hate wearing anything but their natural coat, but he loves it cause his short fun doesn't keep him warm in this weather and the chicks dig his coat... hehehe. 
Q looking happy in my over-the-top, ridiculously heated house... hehehe.I think he's trying to do a pose to show off his ring, too... hehehe.
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
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
Thursday, December 25, 2008
Highlights of my Day... Christmas 2008
Instead of bombarding you with notes about my day, half of which you'd be bored with, the other half of which... well,... I don't care to share, I decided to just post this video mash-up of my day.
Thanks to my family, Mama Bere and Papa Bere, for all the western goodies they sent me. Mi Nam says a huge thanks too for the squeaky toy, which I for one am not so thankful for considering his new found obsession with it is bound to keep me up all night... hehehe.
Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night.
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
A forwarded email I got from Homegirl that others should read...
Remarks from CBS Sunday Morning…I can only hope we find God again before it is too late!!!
The following was written by Ben Stein and recited by him on CBS Sunday Morning Commentary.
My confession: I am a Jew, and every single one of my ancestors was Jewish.
And it does not bother me even a little bit when people call those beautiful lit up, bejeweled trees, Christmas trees.. I don't feel threatened. I don't feel discriminated against. That's what they are: Christmas trees.
It doesn't bother me a bit when people say, 'Merry Christmas' to me. I don't think they are slighting me or getting ready to put me in a ghetto. In fact, I kind of like it It shows that we are all brothers and sisters celebrating this happy time of year. It doesn't bother me at all that there is a manger scene on display at a key intersection near my beach house in Malibu. If people want a crïeche, it's just as fine with me as is the Menorah a few hundred yards away.
I don't like getting pushed around for being a Jew, and I don't think Christians like getting pushed around for being Christians. I think people who believe in God are sick and tired of getting pushed around , period. I have no idea where the concept came from that America is an explicitly atheist country. I can't find it in the Constitution and I don't like it being shoved down my throat.
Or maybe I can put it another way: where did the idea come from that we should worship celebrities and we aren't allowed to worship God as we understand Him? I guess that's a sign that I'm getting old, too. But there are a lot of us who are wondering where these celebrities came from and where the America we knew went to.
In light of the many jokes we send to one another for a laugh, this is a little different: This is not intended to be a joke; it's not funny, it's intended to get you thinking.
Billy Graham's daughter was interviewed on the Early Show and Jane Clayson asked her 'How could God let something like this happen?' (regarding Katrina) Anne Graham gave an extremely profound and insightful response. She said, 'I believe God is deeply saddened by this, just as we are, but for years we've been telling God to get out of our schools, to get out of our government and to get out of our lives. And being the gentleman He is, I believe He has calmly backed out. How can we expect God to give us His blessing and His protection if we demand He leave us alone?'
In light of recent events... terrorists attack, school shootings, etc. I think it started when Madeleine Murray O'Hare (she was murdered, her body found a few years ago) complained she didn't want prayer in our schools, and we said OK. Then someone said you better not read the Bible in school. The Bible says thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not steal, and love your neighbor as yourself. And we said OK. Then Dr. Benjamin Spock said we shouldn't spank our children when they misbehave because their little personalities would be warped and we might damage their self-esteem (Dr Spock's son committed suicide). We said an expert should know what he's talking about. And we said OK.
Now we're asking ourselves why our children have no conscience, why they don't know right from wrong, and why it doesn't bother them to kill strangers, their classmates, and themselves.
Probably, if we think about it long and hard enough, we can figure it out. I think it has a great deal to do with 'WE REAP WHAT WE SOW.' Funny how simple it is for people to trash God and then wonder why the world's going to hell. Funny how we believe what the newspapers say, but question what the Bible says. Funny how you can send 'jokes ' through e-mail and they spread like wildfire but when you start sending messages regarding the Lord, people think twice about sharing. Funny how lewd, crude, vulgar and obscene articles pass freely through cyberspace, but public discussion of God is suppressed in the school and workplace.
Are you laughing yet?
Funny how when you forward this message, you will not send it to many on your address list because you're not sure what they believe, or what they will think of you for sending it.
Funny how we can be more worried about what other people think of us than what God thinks of us.
My Best Regards, Honestly and respectfully,
-- Ben Stein
Highlights of my Day... Wednesday, December 24
1. Too many things to do today… oh gosh. I made my daily “things-to-do” list and came up with 43 things I had to do before Q came over at 8pm!!!
2. My day was pretty much a blur. I was here, there… everywhere, or so it felt.
3. Bought myself my Christmas present today, like I do every year. Let’s see, there was the year I dropped over a grand on my fox-fur, rabbit leather coat, I adopted Mi Nam one year, and then there was the Christmas I spontaneously bought a plane ticket and headed out to Canada. This year my Christmas present to myself was a couple of make-up brushes and some make-up from MAC Cosmetics. Doesn’t sound like much but each brush costs about $45 and their eye shadows go for $20.
4. By the time Q arrived to pick me up I was so high on sugar. My curious little fingers had slipped into the fridge and snuck a few tempting chocolates. My tummy smiled with glee but it sent me into hyper-mode. I literally left my building bouncing and all fidgety.
5. No luck finding any kind of Christmas movie at the rental shop. The closest we got to finding anything remotely festive was “Bridget Jones Diary; the Edge of Reason” in which it had a five minute, if that, Christmas scene at the start. Note to self: stock up on Christmas movie classics for next year. Christmas Eve just isn’t the same without little Ralphie and Gideon the angel.
6. Our Christmas Eve dinner consisted of a massive plate of sushi… and only that, and you know what, it was super delish!!!
7. Christmas Eves back home, with my family, always consisted of mom laying out plates upon plates of home baked cookies and other treats. We'd watch whatever classic Christmas movie was playing on the tube and fill up on goodies and tea or hot chocolate. Christmas Eve was always my favourite part of the Christmas season. Tonight I eagerly tried to create the same mood in my house here in Korea. I had stocked up on treats yesterday in Seoul and so tonight Q and I indulged in them while we watched a movie. It wasn't the same but sitting on the couch all snugged up to Q and Mi Nam was definitely a close second.
8. Am fully aware that tonight and tomorrow will totally sabotage my clean eating but I’m perfectly fine with that. After all my hard training and eating healthy for so long, I think I’m well deserving of two days of “sinful-eating”, as I call it. Two days is nothing compared to the other 363 days I am faithfully and happily dedicated to my healthy lifestyle. So tonight I was a bad, bad girl… hehehe.
9. While watching the movie, which I must note here was such a chick-flick and I’m surprised Q didn’t drop me like a sack of potatoes for me making him watch it, Q accused me of opening up his present. I didn’t even know he had snuck a present under the tree for me. If I did, trust me, yes I would have snuck a peak but I was totally ignorant to it.
10. A COUPLE RING!!! Yup, that’s what I got and, despite my thoughts and opinions about the actual ring and he even considering buying me one, I accepted it. Now before you jump to conclusions let me say that no, it’s NOT an engagement ring. Koreans don’t really do engagement rings and even high school couples are known to wear couple rings, so it’s not necessarily a serious thing. I plan on commenting more about this ring later but for now I won’t. Now and here is not the place for me to talk about it… I might do a video on it later, after the whole Christmas festivities have ended. Tonight I don't want to speak my mind, I'll only sound like the terrible, terrible girlfriend I so often think I really am. I know his intentions are pure, kind and very sweet, but I've been around the block too many times to so easily accept his generosity without second guessing things and trying to read into it.
QUESTION OF THE DAY...
Why do I continually read into things?
QUOTE OF THE DAY...
You cannot be lonely if you like the person you're alone with.
-- Wayne W. Dyer
2. My day was pretty much a blur. I was here, there… everywhere, or so it felt.
3. Bought myself my Christmas present today, like I do every year. Let’s see, there was the year I dropped over a grand on my fox-fur, rabbit leather coat, I adopted Mi Nam one year, and then there was the Christmas I spontaneously bought a plane ticket and headed out to Canada. This year my Christmas present to myself was a couple of make-up brushes and some make-up from MAC Cosmetics. Doesn’t sound like much but each brush costs about $45 and their eye shadows go for $20.
4. By the time Q arrived to pick me up I was so high on sugar. My curious little fingers had slipped into the fridge and snuck a few tempting chocolates. My tummy smiled with glee but it sent me into hyper-mode. I literally left my building bouncing and all fidgety.
5. No luck finding any kind of Christmas movie at the rental shop. The closest we got to finding anything remotely festive was “Bridget Jones Diary; the Edge of Reason” in which it had a five minute, if that, Christmas scene at the start. Note to self: stock up on Christmas movie classics for next year. Christmas Eve just isn’t the same without little Ralphie and Gideon the angel.
6. Our Christmas Eve dinner consisted of a massive plate of sushi… and only that, and you know what, it was super delish!!!
7. Christmas Eves back home, with my family, always consisted of mom laying out plates upon plates of home baked cookies and other treats. We'd watch whatever classic Christmas movie was playing on the tube and fill up on goodies and tea or hot chocolate. Christmas Eve was always my favourite part of the Christmas season. Tonight I eagerly tried to create the same mood in my house here in Korea. I had stocked up on treats yesterday in Seoul and so tonight Q and I indulged in them while we watched a movie. It wasn't the same but sitting on the couch all snugged up to Q and Mi Nam was definitely a close second.
8. Am fully aware that tonight and tomorrow will totally sabotage my clean eating but I’m perfectly fine with that. After all my hard training and eating healthy for so long, I think I’m well deserving of two days of “sinful-eating”, as I call it. Two days is nothing compared to the other 363 days I am faithfully and happily dedicated to my healthy lifestyle. So tonight I was a bad, bad girl… hehehe.
9. While watching the movie, which I must note here was such a chick-flick and I’m surprised Q didn’t drop me like a sack of potatoes for me making him watch it, Q accused me of opening up his present. I didn’t even know he had snuck a present under the tree for me. If I did, trust me, yes I would have snuck a peak but I was totally ignorant to it.
10. A COUPLE RING!!! Yup, that’s what I got and, despite my thoughts and opinions about the actual ring and he even considering buying me one, I accepted it. Now before you jump to conclusions let me say that no, it’s NOT an engagement ring. Koreans don’t really do engagement rings and even high school couples are known to wear couple rings, so it’s not necessarily a serious thing. I plan on commenting more about this ring later but for now I won’t. Now and here is not the place for me to talk about it… I might do a video on it later, after the whole Christmas festivities have ended. Tonight I don't want to speak my mind, I'll only sound like the terrible, terrible girlfriend I so often think I really am. I know his intentions are pure, kind and very sweet, but I've been around the block too many times to so easily accept his generosity without second guessing things and trying to read into it.
QUESTION OF THE DAY...
Why do I continually read into things?
QUOTE OF THE DAY...
You cannot be lonely if you like the person you're alone with.
-- Wayne W. Dyer
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Highlights of my Day... Tuesday, December 23
1. Woke up to a winter wonderland. I doubt that the snow will stay though considering Korea’s weather. It doesn’t feel cold enough for snow but there it was, right before my eyes, snow covering everything outside my window.
2. Changed my Korean language class to today and so that meant I had to wake up super early. I can get away with waking up with just enough time to change my clothes and run out to catch my bus but I have Mi Nam, he’s like a child. I have to feed him and then walk him. Easier said than done when you’re already pressed for time and don’t care to freeze your butt off while you wait around for a four-legged boy to poop… hehehe.
3. My Korean teacher loved the present I bought her… wicked. Some people are just so hard to buy for. She’s a low maintenance woman who doesn’t wear make-up or jewellery. She doesn’t have a boyfriend and so there goes any kind of couple ideas. She’s not into name brand clothing and I don’t think she wears perfume. I ended up buying her shea shampoo and shea “body butter” (lotion) by the Body Shop; I’m addicted to it. I figured hey, she’s got to shower and everyone uses lotion. The shea body butter is this really awesome lotion that leaves your skin feeling seriously smooth and makes you smell really tempting to the nose… hehehe.
4. I’m still not into the whole Christmas season but walking around the mall in Seoul helped to lift my mood a bit.
5. I doubt I’ll be able to find any of my favourite Christmas movies at the movie rent shop but my favourite Christmas movie, by far, is “One Magic Christmas”. I’d have to say my next favourite Christmas movies include both “Home Alone” (both 1 and 2) and “A Christmas Story”. Gotta love little Ralphie’s story about the Red Ryder BB-gun and his father’s obsession with that stupid looking leg-lamp… hehehe.
6. Well, I did it… I won! Panty Boy gave up and so I am the biggest loser!!! With about a week and a half left in our weight competition, Panty Boy called me up today to announce that not only did he give up but he’s put on weight!!! Yup, the weight I lost he apparently piled on… yikes.
7. … and so, on that note, I didn’t do weigh-in at boxing today, I just boxed.
8. Had my evening winter camp class tonight and so I headed over to the university for that. I was in-charge for tonight’s game, my rendition of the game Clue. In my version of Clue, Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer gets murdered at the North Pole.
10. Came home and updated the homepage I made for my students and then went to bed early.
QUESTION OF THE DAY…
What are you doing for Christmas?
QUOTE OF THE DAY…
It is Christmas in the heart that puts Christmas in the air.
-- W.T. Ellis
2. Changed my Korean language class to today and so that meant I had to wake up super early. I can get away with waking up with just enough time to change my clothes and run out to catch my bus but I have Mi Nam, he’s like a child. I have to feed him and then walk him. Easier said than done when you’re already pressed for time and don’t care to freeze your butt off while you wait around for a four-legged boy to poop… hehehe.
3. My Korean teacher loved the present I bought her… wicked. Some people are just so hard to buy for. She’s a low maintenance woman who doesn’t wear make-up or jewellery. She doesn’t have a boyfriend and so there goes any kind of couple ideas. She’s not into name brand clothing and I don’t think she wears perfume. I ended up buying her shea shampoo and shea “body butter” (lotion) by the Body Shop; I’m addicted to it. I figured hey, she’s got to shower and everyone uses lotion. The shea body butter is this really awesome lotion that leaves your skin feeling seriously smooth and makes you smell really tempting to the nose… hehehe.
4. I’m still not into the whole Christmas season but walking around the mall in Seoul helped to lift my mood a bit.
My Christmas Plans
Christmas Eve: Movie date with Q, accompanied by some overly expensive sweets I bought today and hot chocolate my mom mailed me a while back that I saved for the occasion.Christmas
Morning: I’ll be cooking a full-course breakfast of which my French toast will be the main feature.
Afternoon: Opening of the gifts.
Evening: Hoping to attend the Christmas service at the church beside my building, that is, if I got the info right.
5. I doubt I’ll be able to find any of my favourite Christmas movies at the movie rent shop but my favourite Christmas movie, by far, is “One Magic Christmas”. I’d have to say my next favourite Christmas movies include both “Home Alone” (both 1 and 2) and “A Christmas Story”. Gotta love little Ralphie’s story about the Red Ryder BB-gun and his father’s obsession with that stupid looking leg-lamp… hehehe.
6. Well, I did it… I won! Panty Boy gave up and so I am the biggest loser!!! With about a week and a half left in our weight competition, Panty Boy called me up today to announce that not only did he give up but he’s put on weight!!! Yup, the weight I lost he apparently piled on… yikes.
7. … and so, on that note, I didn’t do weigh-in at boxing today, I just boxed.
8. Had my evening winter camp class tonight and so I headed over to the university for that. I was in-charge for tonight’s game, my rendition of the game Clue. In my version of Clue, Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer gets murdered at the North Pole.
The possible suspects:9. My game was a success… wicked! It’s only day two of the winter camp and so all the students are still in “fresh mode”, I love it. Actually, I have a really good feeling about this class. They’ve been all very sweet to me and we’re having a lot of fun. The class divided into groups of four and so I handed out large candy canes to the winner of each group when they finished. We won’t be having our night class tomorrow and so I wished them warm wishes for a merry Christmas and then sent them on their way.
Mrs. Claus
Vixen the reindeer
Dasher the reindeer
Tinker the toy repair elf
Elmo the head elf
Santa’s assistant Igor
Frosty the Snowman
The possible weapons:
Kitchen knife
Toy snake
pencil
Animal poison
Santa’s hammer
Candy cane
Poisonous cookie
The possible locations of the crime:
Santa’s workshop
The Candy Shop
Reindeer Playground
The Cafeteria
Santa’s library
Toy Factory
The Repair Shop
The Elf House
Mrs. Claus’ kitchen
10. Came home and updated the homepage I made for my students and then went to bed early.
QUESTION OF THE DAY…
What are you doing for Christmas?
QUOTE OF THE DAY…
It is Christmas in the heart that puts Christmas in the air.
-- W.T. Ellis
Monday, December 22, 2008
Highlights of my Day... Monday, December 22
1. Winter camp, also known as DEIP (Dankook English Immersion Program), started today and so I had to attend a brief introduction ceremony at the university in the morning. As I entered the auditorium, filled by some 90 students, I scaled the faces looking for a familiar face, any former students. No such luck.
2. Having to get up in front of numerous staff and students to introduce myself was rather nerve racking, I mean, I have no problem standing up in front of a classroom full of students and breaking out into a silly two-second dance or whatnot but put a microphone up to me and my hands get clammy and my voice shakes.
3. Q had the day off and so we spent the afternoon together.
4. Gangster Oppa cracking smiles and smirks at me during training wasn’t appreciated by Q… or me. He corned me today at training, to ask me why I never respond to his text messages anymore. He and I use to text message a lot but my interest in any kind of friendship started to sizzle out after that whole over-the-table-spat that I had at his club with Ms. Two Cent, when he totally took her side and let her punk me off.
5. Junior Mint seems a bit pleased to see my friendship with Gangster Oppa diminishing down to mere hello-smiles and goodbye-waves. Junior Mint doesn’t mind Gangster Oppa, as long as it’s just on a surface level. Upon introducing Gangster Oppa to me, I don’t think Junior Mint thought anything would become of it let alone me find myself at his club being threatened by one of his “working girls”.
6. Despite Junior Mint still recovering from his Saturday fight, he agreed to train me on pad work.
Day 1: 55.15kgs = 121.33lbs
Day 2: 54.62kgs = 120.16lbs
Day 3: 54.28kgs = 119.42lbs
Day 4: 54.40kgs = 119.68lbs
Day 5: 54.00kgs = 118.80lbs
Day 6: 53.82kgs = 118.40lbs
Day 7: no weigh-in, gym closed
Day 8: 53.83kgs = 118.43lbs
Day 9: 53.12kgs = 116.86lbs
Day 10: 53.80kgs = 118.36lbs
Day 11: 53.70kgs = 118.14lbs
Day 12: 53.60kgs = 117.92lbs
Day 13: no weigh-in, gym closed for Junior Mint’s fight
Day 14: (today): 53.30kgs = 117.26lbs
Day 15 (today): 52.98kgs = 116.56lbs
Weight lost so far: 1.85kgs = 4.07lbs
Weight lost so far: 2.17kgs = 4.77lbs
7. I’m not much into the Christmas season this year, actually, I haven’t been in the Christmas mood since I surprise visited my family in Canada (during my first year here in Korea). Today I tried to change that. I went to the mall and walked around, hoping that seeing all the shoppers, decorations and being surrounded by the Christmas spirit would somehow rub off on me… it didn’t work. All it did was score me one nasty elbow to the ribs.
8. Christmas is just not the same, no matter how I try to change my thinking about it. I’ve got my little Christmas tree that my mom mailed me set up. It’s surrounded by all the presents she sent me too, along with other presents people have given me. I’ve even blasted Christmas carols in my house the other day, hoping that it’d get me in the mood… it didn’t work. Nothing seems to be getting me into the Christmas mood.
9. Had to return to the university tonight for my orientation class with my winter camp class. For the next two weeks I’ll be teaching a class from 8pm to 10pm. It’s not as bad as I thought though. This week we don’t have classes on Wednesday or Thursday night and Friday night will be movie night for them. Tonight’s class was just a get-to-know-you class, short and sweet.
10. All the students did a TOEIC test today and then the assistants split them into classes according to their English level. I got the second highest group, cool, which means I was able to sit around with them and have full-fledge conversations. And among the 25 students I got assigned to me, I got one of my former students… awesome! Tonight I teased them with a little bit of chocolate to get them talking… hehehe. I told them each to take two chocolate heresy kisses and, according to what colour of wrapping their chocolate was in, they had to answer two questions.
Green: What do you want for Christmas?
Pink: What is one of your new year’s resolutions?
Blue: What was your favourite thing about 2008?
Silver: What is one wish you have?
The activity went really well and so I was really impressed. We had a lot of fun in class and then some of the girls and I sat around chatting and giggling while I waited for Q to come pick me up.
QUESTION OF THE DAY…
Attitudes are contagious. Are yours worth catching?
QUOTE OF THE DAY…
If you don't get everything you want, think of the things you don't get that you don't want.
-- Oscar Wilde
2. Having to get up in front of numerous staff and students to introduce myself was rather nerve racking, I mean, I have no problem standing up in front of a classroom full of students and breaking out into a silly two-second dance or whatnot but put a microphone up to me and my hands get clammy and my voice shakes.
3. Q had the day off and so we spent the afternoon together.
4. Gangster Oppa cracking smiles and smirks at me during training wasn’t appreciated by Q… or me. He corned me today at training, to ask me why I never respond to his text messages anymore. He and I use to text message a lot but my interest in any kind of friendship started to sizzle out after that whole over-the-table-spat that I had at his club with Ms. Two Cent, when he totally took her side and let her punk me off.
5. Junior Mint seems a bit pleased to see my friendship with Gangster Oppa diminishing down to mere hello-smiles and goodbye-waves. Junior Mint doesn’t mind Gangster Oppa, as long as it’s just on a surface level. Upon introducing Gangster Oppa to me, I don’t think Junior Mint thought anything would become of it let alone me find myself at his club being threatened by one of his “working girls”.
6. Despite Junior Mint still recovering from his Saturday fight, he agreed to train me on pad work.
Day 1: 55.15kgs = 121.33lbs
Day 2: 54.62kgs = 120.16lbs
Day 3: 54.28kgs = 119.42lbs
Day 4: 54.40kgs = 119.68lbs
Day 5: 54.00kgs = 118.80lbs
Day 6: 53.82kgs = 118.40lbs
Day 7: no weigh-in, gym closed
Day 8: 53.83kgs = 118.43lbs
Day 9: 53.12kgs = 116.86lbs
Day 10: 53.80kgs = 118.36lbs
Day 11: 53.70kgs = 118.14lbs
Day 12: 53.60kgs = 117.92lbs
Day 13: no weigh-in, gym closed for Junior Mint’s fight
Day 14: (today): 53.30kgs = 117.26lbs
Day 15 (today): 52.98kgs = 116.56lbs
Weight lost so far: 1.85kgs = 4.07lbs
Weight lost so far: 2.17kgs = 4.77lbs
7. I’m not much into the Christmas season this year, actually, I haven’t been in the Christmas mood since I surprise visited my family in Canada (during my first year here in Korea). Today I tried to change that. I went to the mall and walked around, hoping that seeing all the shoppers, decorations and being surrounded by the Christmas spirit would somehow rub off on me… it didn’t work. All it did was score me one nasty elbow to the ribs.
8. Christmas is just not the same, no matter how I try to change my thinking about it. I’ve got my little Christmas tree that my mom mailed me set up. It’s surrounded by all the presents she sent me too, along with other presents people have given me. I’ve even blasted Christmas carols in my house the other day, hoping that it’d get me in the mood… it didn’t work. Nothing seems to be getting me into the Christmas mood.
9. Had to return to the university tonight for my orientation class with my winter camp class. For the next two weeks I’ll be teaching a class from 8pm to 10pm. It’s not as bad as I thought though. This week we don’t have classes on Wednesday or Thursday night and Friday night will be movie night for them. Tonight’s class was just a get-to-know-you class, short and sweet.
10. All the students did a TOEIC test today and then the assistants split them into classes according to their English level. I got the second highest group, cool, which means I was able to sit around with them and have full-fledge conversations. And among the 25 students I got assigned to me, I got one of my former students… awesome! Tonight I teased them with a little bit of chocolate to get them talking… hehehe. I told them each to take two chocolate heresy kisses and, according to what colour of wrapping their chocolate was in, they had to answer two questions.
Green: What do you want for Christmas?
Pink: What is one of your new year’s resolutions?
Blue: What was your favourite thing about 2008?
Silver: What is one wish you have?
The activity went really well and so I was really impressed. We had a lot of fun in class and then some of the girls and I sat around chatting and giggling while I waited for Q to come pick me up.
QUESTION OF THE DAY…
Attitudes are contagious. Are yours worth catching?
QUOTE OF THE DAY…
If you don't get everything you want, think of the things you don't get that you don't want.
-- Oscar Wilde
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Highlights of my Day... Sunday, December 21
1. Q can’t seem to let last night’s embarrassing drugstore situation go and so I may as well tell you, too. I swear this will be the last poop story too… hehehe. Anyways, so last night, after what felt like years of no “p-action” (p for poop), I caved in and finally went to the drugstore. One problem, I didn’t know the Korean word for laxative. I eagerly tried every means possible to explain what I needed but the woman behind the counter just wasn’t getting it. A young guy beside me stood watching and so I was already feeling a bit embarrassed. “What the heck?!” I thought to myself. I was already embarrassed and so what was a bit more embarrassment. And so on that note I blurted out “Dong ha-go-ship-eyo!!!”, which translates to “I want poop!!!” The guy beside me smirked, as did all the workers. I slapped down my money, scooped up the laxatives and left.
2. A minute later, while standing at the stop light, the young guy reappeared beside me. I could feel him starring at me and so I turned to him and yelled out, “Yah! Dong obbsseyo?!” (translation: “Hey! You don’t poo?!”)
3. So ya, Q’s been going to town on that embarrassing story, but wait, I have another embarrassing story. Today Q ordered call food but when it arrived he had stepped out for a bit. I swung open the door thinking it was Q returning but it was the delivery man. An older man who was definitely shocked to see me standing there in my leggings (yes… I wear leggings as pants, I thought I already mentioned that) and my tank top. So ya, there I stood, standing looking pretty naked. He took one glance at me and then lowered his hat so that I couldn’t see his eyes. He stumbled with giving me my change and then pretty much did a nose plant into my door when he tried to leave, I mean, escape… hehehe.
4. … but that’s not where the story ended, nope. Turns out they had forgotten to bring the rice Q ordered and so Q called the restaurant. A couple of minutes later my doorbell rang again but this time it was a different delivery man. Q’s convinced that the delivery boys must have done rock-paper-scissors to see who gets to see the “naked foreign girl”, as Q referred to me as. “You’re their highlight today Amy” Q said. Great, I thought, just what I needed.
5. I guess there could be worse things people could be saying about me like, I don’t know, babbling on and on about my coach’s successful fight only to have some dumb-nut point out a minor stupid thing like… anyway, YOU get my point.
6. Like I told my director, “You just can’t please some people”.
7. Years of majoring in English at York University and having numerous professors load my weekly schedule up with required readings has killed my interest in reading, for the most part. Now I stick the basics, the fundamentals I think I need to read, Oxygen Magazine and the National Geographic. Mind ya, finding current copies of both magazine are either hard to come by or will cost me an arm and a leg, so I stick to reading old out-dated copies or re-reading the editions I already own. However, the other day I stumbled across this particular book in the bookstore, “Can you Keep a Secret” by Sophie Kinsella. It’s a 374 page novel that I brought along yesterday for the long ride.
8. If I’m going to read a novel, I much prefer a more philosophical one or one that’s loaded with imagery and symbolism, like something from Margaret Atwood. But I ended up really liking this novel of Kinsella’s. It read so easily and reminded me of “Sex in the City” with Bradshaw. Finished it tonight.
9. Despite the boxing club being closed, I went in for training… I got a key, remember?!! Yup. I love training on the club day’s off cause there’s absolutely no pressure and no one to interrupt me. Mind ya, with no one else in the club, it makes for a super chilly scene.
Day 1: 55.15kgs = 121.33lbs
Day 2: 54.62kgs = 120.16lbs
Day 3: 54.28kgs = 119.42lbs
Day 4: 54.40kgs = 119.68lbs
Day 5: 54.00kgs = 118.80lbs
Day 6: 53.82kgs = 118.40lbs
Day 7: no weigh-in, gym closed
Day 8: 53.83kgs = 118.43lbs
Day 9: 53.12kgs = 116.86lbs
Day 10: 53.80kgs = 118.36lbs
Day 11: 53.70kgs = 118.14lbs
Day 12: 53.60kgs = 117.92lbs
Day 13: no weigh-in, gym closed for Junior Mint’s fight
Day 14: (today): 53.30kgs = 117.26lbs
Weight lost so far: 1.85kgs = 4.07lbs
10. I’ve been thinking a lot about what the heck I’m going to venture into once I return to Canada and well, fitness is one option I’m looking into. I’m not too sure on what aspect of fitness or how far into it I’ll get but today it got me really thinking. Back in Canada there was this particular girl that trained at my fitness club, Ana. She now is a personal trainer at my club but she use to do professional female fitness modelling/body building. Tonight I sat down and emailed her.
QUESTION OF THE DAY...
Who peed in your cereal?
QUOTE OF THE DAY...
The world is made up of protons, neutrons, electrons, and morons.
-- My Uncle
2. A minute later, while standing at the stop light, the young guy reappeared beside me. I could feel him starring at me and so I turned to him and yelled out, “Yah! Dong obbsseyo?!” (translation: “Hey! You don’t poo?!”)
3. So ya, Q’s been going to town on that embarrassing story, but wait, I have another embarrassing story. Today Q ordered call food but when it arrived he had stepped out for a bit. I swung open the door thinking it was Q returning but it was the delivery man. An older man who was definitely shocked to see me standing there in my leggings (yes… I wear leggings as pants, I thought I already mentioned that) and my tank top. So ya, there I stood, standing looking pretty naked. He took one glance at me and then lowered his hat so that I couldn’t see his eyes. He stumbled with giving me my change and then pretty much did a nose plant into my door when he tried to leave, I mean, escape… hehehe.
4. … but that’s not where the story ended, nope. Turns out they had forgotten to bring the rice Q ordered and so Q called the restaurant. A couple of minutes later my doorbell rang again but this time it was a different delivery man. Q’s convinced that the delivery boys must have done rock-paper-scissors to see who gets to see the “naked foreign girl”, as Q referred to me as. “You’re their highlight today Amy” Q said. Great, I thought, just what I needed.
5. I guess there could be worse things people could be saying about me like, I don’t know, babbling on and on about my coach’s successful fight only to have some dumb-nut point out a minor stupid thing like… anyway, YOU get my point.
6. Like I told my director, “You just can’t please some people”.
7. Years of majoring in English at York University and having numerous professors load my weekly schedule up with required readings has killed my interest in reading, for the most part. Now I stick the basics, the fundamentals I think I need to read, Oxygen Magazine and the National Geographic. Mind ya, finding current copies of both magazine are either hard to come by or will cost me an arm and a leg, so I stick to reading old out-dated copies or re-reading the editions I already own. However, the other day I stumbled across this particular book in the bookstore, “Can you Keep a Secret” by Sophie Kinsella. It’s a 374 page novel that I brought along yesterday for the long ride.
8. If I’m going to read a novel, I much prefer a more philosophical one or one that’s loaded with imagery and symbolism, like something from Margaret Atwood. But I ended up really liking this novel of Kinsella’s. It read so easily and reminded me of “Sex in the City” with Bradshaw. Finished it tonight.
9. Despite the boxing club being closed, I went in for training… I got a key, remember?!! Yup. I love training on the club day’s off cause there’s absolutely no pressure and no one to interrupt me. Mind ya, with no one else in the club, it makes for a super chilly scene.
Day 1: 55.15kgs = 121.33lbs
Day 2: 54.62kgs = 120.16lbs
Day 3: 54.28kgs = 119.42lbs
Day 4: 54.40kgs = 119.68lbs
Day 5: 54.00kgs = 118.80lbs
Day 6: 53.82kgs = 118.40lbs
Day 7: no weigh-in, gym closed
Day 8: 53.83kgs = 118.43lbs
Day 9: 53.12kgs = 116.86lbs
Day 10: 53.80kgs = 118.36lbs
Day 11: 53.70kgs = 118.14lbs
Day 12: 53.60kgs = 117.92lbs
Day 13: no weigh-in, gym closed for Junior Mint’s fight
Day 14: (today): 53.30kgs = 117.26lbs
Weight lost so far: 1.85kgs = 4.07lbs
10. I’ve been thinking a lot about what the heck I’m going to venture into once I return to Canada and well, fitness is one option I’m looking into. I’m not too sure on what aspect of fitness or how far into it I’ll get but today it got me really thinking. Back in Canada there was this particular girl that trained at my fitness club, Ana. She now is a personal trainer at my club but she use to do professional female fitness modelling/body building. Tonight I sat down and emailed her.
QUESTION OF THE DAY...
Who peed in your cereal?
QUOTE OF THE DAY...
The world is made up of protons, neutrons, electrons, and morons.
-- My Uncle
Saturday, December 20, 2008
Highlights of my Day... Saturday, December 20
1. Koreans are all about sharing. They’re more like a community of people attached at the hips. They call each other brother and sister and so their family is like your family… and so is their food. Which means buying a drink means buying drinks for everyone and opening up a bag of goodies means sharing it, correction… splitting it up for all that are present. Well this may be all fine and dandy for the person who didn’t buy the drinks or bring the food, but it flat out sucks for people like me who are on a strict diet and really do need to eat the food they bring. Knowing full well that it’d be a three hour drive, proceeded by an extra long day with a questionable lunch, I packed some chicken I cooked last night, along with a steamed sweet potato, a bottle of water, some almonds, yogurt, and a protein shake. I refuse to put my diet on the back burner and so I was going to eat my meals in secrecy, or at least try. Q gave me a bit of an odd look when he saw what I had packed. “If you want food, by all means, buy it, cook it and then pack it baby.” I told him. Sharing may be the Korean way but I’m not Korean. I’m not selfish but I also wasn’t about to sabotage my diet for the benefit of others. I’m no one’s sister here, no one’s mother, and I sure as heck am not anyone’s free meal ticket!
2. I deliberately sat at the back of the van so that I could eat my meal during the drive and without people spotting me.
3. You want to make me cranky?!... then eat my food and deprive me of any water and food for countless hours. That’s what exactly happened today and later in the evening cranky is exactly what I became. One of the girls took my yogurt and almonds (meal #3), I was more or less forced to offer them to her. It was either that or listen to another hour of her “I’m so hungry” moaning. And then my protein shake kind of exploded when someone sat on my bag (meal #4). So basically I only had meals #1 and #2. Eight hours later I was finally able to get food. They insisted I head out to the restaurant with them but, well I was cranky, and so I didn’t go. All I wanted were my four egg whites and two green peppers and so I went home and ate exactly that.
4. But anyways… my food, and lack there of it, wasn’t the biggest highlight of my day today, Junior Mint’s fight was… it definitely was! Eleven of us piled into a big rented van and made the three hour journey to where his fight was. Five others meet up with us and so we had quite the crowd there. Actually a lot of people came out to see him today, people even he didn’t know. Talk of his long list of credentials and accomplishments have been flying via word of mouth and so the place was booming with curious spectators all eager to catch a glimpse of him.
5. It was funny to see Junior Mint taping his own hands, usually it’s done by the head coach but Junior Mint is stubborn like that, plus he IS the head coach. We all crowded around him in the change room as he got ready for his fight. Up until today, he’s been telling me that he’s excited about this match. “It feels natural” he told me but today he looked anything but natural. He looked stressed. I think all the hype has finally got to him. Today would either make or break his name and his reputation as a boxing coach and manager.
6. Definitely a defining moment of the day was when Junior Mint stepped out of the ring and there stood Panty Boy Jr., priceless. The two haven’t talked or seen each other since Panty Boy Jr. announced he was quitting the team, quitting boxing, and Junior Mint’s been bitter about it ever since. Panty Boy Jr. arrived right at the start of the fight and he snuck behind me to say hi. I turned around and was so overwhelmed to see him. I’ve missed him a lot, we all have. He did the right thing by coming.
7. So there we were, the old crew all together again, well most of us; Panty Boy Jr., Black Skinny, Q, Handsome Boy, Milk Dude, Junior Mint, and me. Who would have thought this time last year would be the last of our crew but that we’d be reunited by a fight involving the very man that created us, Junior Mint.
8. Junior Mint’s opponent was this strapping young boy with muscles way beyond his years. He stood a bit taller than Junior Mint but Junior Mint stood with more pride and more experience. Six and a half years ago Junior Mint stepped out of the ring but when he stepped back in today, it was like it was just yesterday. The match was only four rounds but that’s four rounds our hearts pounded louder than ever before. I swear we all stood there holding our breath. I said a little prayer for Junior Mint and then round two started. In between rounds three and four he looked over to me and I mouthed the word “kill” to him. That’s been our inside joke for the longest time. “I don’t want to fight” I once told him, “I want to kill… so they remember me.” By “kill” I don’t mean the literal sense of the word, instead, I mean a rough, brutal fight in which the winner is obvious.
9. Junior Mint’s fight wasn’t a kill but he definitely proved that he still has what it takes. I’m sure his fight would have been a killing though if one of the officials hadn’t talked to him prior to the match. Q’s Junior Mint’s official manager and so he was standing by Junior Mint and overheard the whole conversation. “You’re a sure win” the official said. “… we all know it. Just be easy on the kid”, and that he was. He won the match but after he looked so disappointed. It hadn’t been the match he had anticipated it would be.
10. Regardless of whether it was a killing or a fight, we all felt proud of Junior Mint. We stuck around to watch a couple of more matches while a television crew interviewed Junior Mint and then we loaded into our vehicles and headed back to Cheonan. Traffic was brutal and so five hours later we finally arrived.
QUESTION OF THE DAY...
What did you eat for breakfast?
QUOTE OF THE DAY...
The breakfast of champions is not cereal, it's the opposition.
-- Nick Seitz
2. I deliberately sat at the back of the van so that I could eat my meal during the drive and without people spotting me.
3. You want to make me cranky?!... then eat my food and deprive me of any water and food for countless hours. That’s what exactly happened today and later in the evening cranky is exactly what I became. One of the girls took my yogurt and almonds (meal #3), I was more or less forced to offer them to her. It was either that or listen to another hour of her “I’m so hungry” moaning. And then my protein shake kind of exploded when someone sat on my bag (meal #4). So basically I only had meals #1 and #2. Eight hours later I was finally able to get food. They insisted I head out to the restaurant with them but, well I was cranky, and so I didn’t go. All I wanted were my four egg whites and two green peppers and so I went home and ate exactly that.
4. But anyways… my food, and lack there of it, wasn’t the biggest highlight of my day today, Junior Mint’s fight was… it definitely was! Eleven of us piled into a big rented van and made the three hour journey to where his fight was. Five others meet up with us and so we had quite the crowd there. Actually a lot of people came out to see him today, people even he didn’t know. Talk of his long list of credentials and accomplishments have been flying via word of mouth and so the place was booming with curious spectators all eager to catch a glimpse of him.
5. It was funny to see Junior Mint taping his own hands, usually it’s done by the head coach but Junior Mint is stubborn like that, plus he IS the head coach. We all crowded around him in the change room as he got ready for his fight. Up until today, he’s been telling me that he’s excited about this match. “It feels natural” he told me but today he looked anything but natural. He looked stressed. I think all the hype has finally got to him. Today would either make or break his name and his reputation as a boxing coach and manager.
6. Definitely a defining moment of the day was when Junior Mint stepped out of the ring and there stood Panty Boy Jr., priceless. The two haven’t talked or seen each other since Panty Boy Jr. announced he was quitting the team, quitting boxing, and Junior Mint’s been bitter about it ever since. Panty Boy Jr. arrived right at the start of the fight and he snuck behind me to say hi. I turned around and was so overwhelmed to see him. I’ve missed him a lot, we all have. He did the right thing by coming.
7. So there we were, the old crew all together again, well most of us; Panty Boy Jr., Black Skinny, Q, Handsome Boy, Milk Dude, Junior Mint, and me. Who would have thought this time last year would be the last of our crew but that we’d be reunited by a fight involving the very man that created us, Junior Mint.
8. Junior Mint’s opponent was this strapping young boy with muscles way beyond his years. He stood a bit taller than Junior Mint but Junior Mint stood with more pride and more experience. Six and a half years ago Junior Mint stepped out of the ring but when he stepped back in today, it was like it was just yesterday. The match was only four rounds but that’s four rounds our hearts pounded louder than ever before. I swear we all stood there holding our breath. I said a little prayer for Junior Mint and then round two started. In between rounds three and four he looked over to me and I mouthed the word “kill” to him. That’s been our inside joke for the longest time. “I don’t want to fight” I once told him, “I want to kill… so they remember me.” By “kill” I don’t mean the literal sense of the word, instead, I mean a rough, brutal fight in which the winner is obvious.
9. Junior Mint’s fight wasn’t a kill but he definitely proved that he still has what it takes. I’m sure his fight would have been a killing though if one of the officials hadn’t talked to him prior to the match. Q’s Junior Mint’s official manager and so he was standing by Junior Mint and overheard the whole conversation. “You’re a sure win” the official said. “… we all know it. Just be easy on the kid”, and that he was. He won the match but after he looked so disappointed. It hadn’t been the match he had anticipated it would be.
10. Regardless of whether it was a killing or a fight, we all felt proud of Junior Mint. We stuck around to watch a couple of more matches while a television crew interviewed Junior Mint and then we loaded into our vehicles and headed back to Cheonan. Traffic was brutal and so five hours later we finally arrived.
QUESTION OF THE DAY...
What did you eat for breakfast?
QUOTE OF THE DAY...
The breakfast of champions is not cereal, it's the opposition.
-- Nick Seitz
Friday, December 19, 2008
Sporting my new club jacket and it was a good thing too because a boxing club with no bodies and no heat makes for a very, very chilly time.
Junior Mint picked these jackets out for us a while ago. We got a huge break on the price from the seller and they came with matching training jumpsuits. I'm not crazy about the jumpsuit but the big parka is pretty cool.
Highlights of my Day... Friday, December 19
1. As arranged earlier, today I managed the boxing club while Junior Mint headed off to Seoul for his fight weigh-in. Between 10am and 3pm only two boxers showed up to train. I ended up training with the second guy, a high school student whom I’ve never seen before. Taught him how to do this cross-over skip that people always are impressed by.
2. Spent way too long trying to learn how to do a triple-skip (when you jump once but spin the robe three times), mind you, I haven’t quite mastered the double-skip… hehehe.
3. Needless to say, sitting in an empty club left me with a lot of spare time on my hands… too much spare time. We have no heat in the boxing club and so I tried to keep myself warm by staying busy. I rearranged all the boxing gloves and boxing boots, dusted a bit, read and then re-read the old Oxygen fitness magazine I had brought, and washed the drinking cups.
4. Got a good couple of hours of Korean studying done.
5. Managing the club for half the day kind of made me feel sorry for Junior Mint. That man eats, sleeps and breathes boxing. Boxing is his life but it must be so discouraging for him to have to sit here over and over again with very few members coming out. A large crowd of high school boys always show up in the late afternoon, around 4pm, and the club is always buzzing with members in the evening, but wow, in the mornings it’s dead here!
6. Junior Mint works at the club from open to close (10am to 11pm) five days a week. Saturday is his day off but he usually calls me out to train with him and then he sometimes sticks around to help Milk Dud clean up the place. Maybe I should be doing more for him. It breaks my heart to see someone so passionate about something but so unappreciated and acknowledged. Maybe I could manage the club some mornings for him, now that I’m only holidays and have way too much time on my hands…. Ya, I think I’ll do that.
7. I know, I know… no more poop stories. Junior Mint thinks my poop stories are hilarious… and yes, he and I share stupid stories like that… hehehe. The other day he tried to hug me as hard as he could. It was his attempt at trying to "help me out".... hehehe. Anyways, it’s not like I have a poop story anyways… there’s still no poop!!! Laugh as you may or do whatever but it’s stressing me out, seriously. This isn’t natural. That dang ice cream messed my system up and it’s killing my weigh-in.
Day 1: 55.15kgs = 121.33lbs
Day 2: 54.62kgs = 120.16lbs
Day 3: 54.28kgs = 119.42lbs
Day 4: 54.40kgs = 119.68lbs
Day 5: 54.00kgs = 118.80lbs
Day 6: 53.82kgs = 118.40lbs
Day 7: no weigh-in, gym closed
Day 8: 53.83kgs = 118.43lbs
Day 9: 53.12kgs = 116.86lbs
Day 10: 53.80kgs = 118.36lbs
Day 11 (today): 53.70kgs = 118.14lbs
Day 12 (today): 53.60kgs = 117.92lbs
Weight lost so far: 1.55kgs = 3.41lbs
8. No word from Panty Boy on how he’s doing on our diet competition. Last word I got from him it was him complaining that this competition is killing his “mojo”, as he called it, with his ladies (and yes, ladies is plural, as in he’s got more than one lady). You see, Panty Boy is the poster child of luxury living. He’s an underwear model who’s made it big despite not really owning a bum that I think is adequate enough for a man in his profession to have. Personally, I think he hit it big cause of his charm and wit. He’s quick on the tongue, soothing to the ears, and easy on the eyes. But his problem is that he’s all about image. Nothing he does is without purpose and his purpose to everything is to look important and high class. He prefers to have a driver because he says it makes him look important. He wears these awfully uncomfortable three piece suits with equally uncomfortable matching shoes that he hates and wears pretty boy ties that act more like a noose, because he says image is everything. Part of his high maintenance image is wining and dinning with numerous big names in the fashion and modeling industry. He shills out mad cash and takes potential “stepping-stone people” (as he calls them) out to fancy restaurants and bars.
9. Despite my minor set back in my diet because of the whole poop situation, I’m pretty sure I have this competition in the bag. Panty Boy has a big dinner meeting with some big-wig and so I can almost guarantee he’ll be pounding back a big meal, along with some drinks.
10. Q and I ended up heading out to do some grocery shopping together and then we rented a movie. He’s been wanting to see this particular gangster movie for awhile now and so we watched that. I fell asleep halfway through it though.
QUESTION OF THE DAY...
What are you passionate about?
QUOTE OF THE DAY...
Chase down your passion like it's the last bus of the night.
-- Glade Byron Addams
2. Spent way too long trying to learn how to do a triple-skip (when you jump once but spin the robe three times), mind you, I haven’t quite mastered the double-skip… hehehe.
3. Needless to say, sitting in an empty club left me with a lot of spare time on my hands… too much spare time. We have no heat in the boxing club and so I tried to keep myself warm by staying busy. I rearranged all the boxing gloves and boxing boots, dusted a bit, read and then re-read the old Oxygen fitness magazine I had brought, and washed the drinking cups.
4. Got a good couple of hours of Korean studying done.
5. Managing the club for half the day kind of made me feel sorry for Junior Mint. That man eats, sleeps and breathes boxing. Boxing is his life but it must be so discouraging for him to have to sit here over and over again with very few members coming out. A large crowd of high school boys always show up in the late afternoon, around 4pm, and the club is always buzzing with members in the evening, but wow, in the mornings it’s dead here!
6. Junior Mint works at the club from open to close (10am to 11pm) five days a week. Saturday is his day off but he usually calls me out to train with him and then he sometimes sticks around to help Milk Dud clean up the place. Maybe I should be doing more for him. It breaks my heart to see someone so passionate about something but so unappreciated and acknowledged. Maybe I could manage the club some mornings for him, now that I’m only holidays and have way too much time on my hands…. Ya, I think I’ll do that.
7. I know, I know… no more poop stories. Junior Mint thinks my poop stories are hilarious… and yes, he and I share stupid stories like that… hehehe. The other day he tried to hug me as hard as he could. It was his attempt at trying to "help me out".... hehehe. Anyways, it’s not like I have a poop story anyways… there’s still no poop!!! Laugh as you may or do whatever but it’s stressing me out, seriously. This isn’t natural. That dang ice cream messed my system up and it’s killing my weigh-in.
Day 1: 55.15kgs = 121.33lbs
Day 2: 54.62kgs = 120.16lbs
Day 3: 54.28kgs = 119.42lbs
Day 4: 54.40kgs = 119.68lbs
Day 5: 54.00kgs = 118.80lbs
Day 6: 53.82kgs = 118.40lbs
Day 7: no weigh-in, gym closed
Day 8: 53.83kgs = 118.43lbs
Day 9: 53.12kgs = 116.86lbs
Day 10: 53.80kgs = 118.36lbs
Day 11 (today): 53.70kgs = 118.14lbs
Day 12 (today): 53.60kgs = 117.92lbs
Weight lost so far: 1.55kgs = 3.41lbs
8. No word from Panty Boy on how he’s doing on our diet competition. Last word I got from him it was him complaining that this competition is killing his “mojo”, as he called it, with his ladies (and yes, ladies is plural, as in he’s got more than one lady). You see, Panty Boy is the poster child of luxury living. He’s an underwear model who’s made it big despite not really owning a bum that I think is adequate enough for a man in his profession to have. Personally, I think he hit it big cause of his charm and wit. He’s quick on the tongue, soothing to the ears, and easy on the eyes. But his problem is that he’s all about image. Nothing he does is without purpose and his purpose to everything is to look important and high class. He prefers to have a driver because he says it makes him look important. He wears these awfully uncomfortable three piece suits with equally uncomfortable matching shoes that he hates and wears pretty boy ties that act more like a noose, because he says image is everything. Part of his high maintenance image is wining and dinning with numerous big names in the fashion and modeling industry. He shills out mad cash and takes potential “stepping-stone people” (as he calls them) out to fancy restaurants and bars.
9. Despite my minor set back in my diet because of the whole poop situation, I’m pretty sure I have this competition in the bag. Panty Boy has a big dinner meeting with some big-wig and so I can almost guarantee he’ll be pounding back a big meal, along with some drinks.
10. Q and I ended up heading out to do some grocery shopping together and then we rented a movie. He’s been wanting to see this particular gangster movie for awhile now and so we watched that. I fell asleep halfway through it though.
QUESTION OF THE DAY...
What are you passionate about?
QUOTE OF THE DAY...
Chase down your passion like it's the last bus of the night.
-- Glade Byron Addams
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