The newly built, much overdue addition to the park across the street from me. I may play nicely in the sandbox but touch my food and you'll be playing with fire.
Monday, May 31, 2010
Highlights of my Day... Monday, May 31
There’s a saying in Korea that says Koreans will share even a grain of rice. In a utopia kind of world that’s all nice and peachy keen but this is reality and, if you’re the one who came with that one piece of rice, it flat out bites.
I always happen to be the person with the one grain of rice in a crowd of hungry mouths.
Unlike my female counterparts who stack their purses with make-up and such, I stack my purse with munchies. I eat six meals a day and, regardless of how out-and-about I am in the city, no meal goes missed.
Take for example my two-day cruise. On the day of the cruise I had to travel to Seoul (1 hour) and then travel down to Busan (5 hours). Total time spent on the road totaled just over six hours in actuality. Now based on the fact that I eat every 2.5 to 3 hours, I knew my anticipated long journey meant I’d be eating at least 2 meals on the road. I had assumed we’d be taking the KTX but wasn’t sure. Regardless, I loaded my purse and, because I am all about keeping my baby (Snickers) happy and fed, I stacked my purse to feed the both of us.
However, because Koreans are all about communal eating and sharing, no sooner did I pull out my orange but it was then split among the eight of us. I managed to get two pieces but only because I cheated and didn’t split it fairly. [Enter your “shame on you Amy” and finger pointing here… I don’t feel guilty.]
We ended up stopping for meals (which was totally unexpected because I thought we’d be taking the KTX train) and so I ended up taking my purse of munchies onto the cruise with us. Again though I was forced to face the fact that pulling out food in the presence of other people meant sharing it. Moreover, because I was followed by a 6-member TV crew and only the three common meal times were allotted in my filming schedule, I had to somehow fit in my other three meals secretly.
I always happen to be the person with the one grain of rice in a crowd of hungry mouths.
Unlike my female counterparts who stack their purses with make-up and such, I stack my purse with munchies. I eat six meals a day and, regardless of how out-and-about I am in the city, no meal goes missed.
Take for example my two-day cruise. On the day of the cruise I had to travel to Seoul (1 hour) and then travel down to Busan (5 hours). Total time spent on the road totaled just over six hours in actuality. Now based on the fact that I eat every 2.5 to 3 hours, I knew my anticipated long journey meant I’d be eating at least 2 meals on the road. I had assumed we’d be taking the KTX but wasn’t sure. Regardless, I loaded my purse and, because I am all about keeping my baby (Snickers) happy and fed, I stacked my purse to feed the both of us.
What I packed:
- two packages of dried peas
- two non-fat yogurt cups
- an orange
- a ziplock baggie with my version of trail mix (almonds, walnuts, raisins, etc.)
- a Nature Valley granola bar
- cherry tomatoes
However, because Koreans are all about communal eating and sharing, no sooner did I pull out my orange but it was then split among the eight of us. I managed to get two pieces but only because I cheated and didn’t split it fairly. [Enter your “shame on you Amy” and finger pointing here… I don’t feel guilty.]
We ended up stopping for meals (which was totally unexpected because I thought we’d be taking the KTX train) and so I ended up taking my purse of munchies onto the cruise with us. Again though I was forced to face the fact that pulling out food in the presence of other people meant sharing it. Moreover, because I was followed by a 6-member TV crew and only the three common meal times were allotted in my filming schedule, I had to somehow fit in my other three meals secretly.
Fitting in all my meals wasn’t quite as easy but Snickers had fun pocketing food during the three meal times.
“Is that a banana in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?” I asked.
“It’s two bananas... hahaha!” Snickers responded, and it was.
I eat religiously every two and a half to three hours, bringing my meal count to six small meals. I eat like this not because I think I have to but because it's more comfortable on my system. I rather feel constantly content than one minute starving, the next minute bloated and full. More importantly, it’s a heck of a lot healthier.
The Korean culture has it’s positives and negatives, like any and all cultures do, but I will like it’s sharing mentality. I’m always the one person with the one grain of rice.
I’m okay with sharing my toys, sharing my clothes, and even sharing my toothbrush (note I do this on a daily bases because Snickers thinks it’s a cute couple thing), but with the exception of an anticipated situation I’ve prepared for, like a dinner party, or it’s a small nibble, I really don’t like sharing my food.
I have become just like the bodybuilding boys I dated and hung out with back in Toronto, of which I use to tease about because they’d get so cranky if they weren’t fed or if I dipped into their stash of food. And because of this, my apologies go out especially to Big Pete-the-Greek, Big Wheels, Ninja Turtle, and Brown the Bull.
I have officially accepted the fact that I am now a fully-active member of the “touch-my-food-and-die group”. Okay, so I won’t kill you if you touch my food but anything you touch my food with you won’t get back.
Boo-whua-hahaha [that’s my evil laugh there].
QUESTION OF THE DAY...
What point of your culture don't you like?
QUOTE OF THE DAY...
Tell me what you eat, and I will tell you what you are.
-- Anthelme Brillat-Savarin
Sunday, May 30, 2010
Highlights of my Day... Sunday, May 30
Originally, the schedule for today included waking up for 4:30am shooting and watching the sun rise. I’ve never been one to really care about the sun rising and much prefer to get some extra z’s in, so I was happy when they noted the weather would be cloudy and I’d get to sleep in til 6am.
One of the camera men accidently knocked one of the cameras off the table. We all held our breath as they checked to see if it still worked, and it did. Camera knocked on the floor, $6000, and the tripod it sat on, $2,000. Camera not knocked off the table, $60,000, and the tripod it sat on, $10,000… yikes!!!
After doing our version of the leaning-over-the-boat scene from The Titanic, we loaded up the Arirang TV crew van and headed out of Busan.
It had been a great cruise and I really enjoyed the company of the Arirang TV crew; they were all very sweet to us. I particularly favored Mini Min and one of the camera men who I had repeatedly called “Stalker Man” because of the fact he always stayed in my blind spot and positioned himself in the strangest of spots. The director was a cool dude with oversized Police-like sun glasses he wore 24/7 and he continually gave me props for my Korean. The whole crew was really nice.
QUESTION OF THE DAY...
What are you 'like white on rice' about?
QUOTE OF THE DAY...
To love and be loved is to feel the sun from both sides.
-- David Viscott
One of the camera men accidently knocked one of the cameras off the table. We all held our breath as they checked to see if it still worked, and it did. Camera knocked on the floor, $6000, and the tripod it sat on, $2,000. Camera not knocked off the table, $60,000, and the tripod it sat on, $10,000… yikes!!!
After doing our version of the leaning-over-the-boat scene from The Titanic, we loaded up the Arirang TV crew van and headed out of Busan.
It had been a great cruise and I really enjoyed the company of the Arirang TV crew; they were all very sweet to us. I particularly favored Mini Min and one of the camera men who I had repeatedly called “Stalker Man” because of the fact he always stayed in my blind spot and positioned himself in the strangest of spots. The director was a cool dude with oversized Police-like sun glasses he wore 24/7 and he continually gave me props for my Korean. The whole crew was really nice.
QUESTION OF THE DAY...
What are you 'like white on rice' about?
QUOTE OF THE DAY...
To love and be loved is to feel the sun from both sides.
-- David Viscott
Saturday, May 29, 2010
Highlights of my Day... Saturday, May 29
Our day started off super early. We had to meet the crew from Arirang TV in Seoul. There were six of them: the director, producer, two cameramen, the lights and sound man, and the assistnat. They loaded up their van and then we drove down to Busan, a five hour trek in a van loaded with cameras, mics, other equipement, and us eight people. I sat in between Snickers and the assistant, a young Korean girl who reminded me of Min Young (a former professional female boxer I use to train with). Mini Min (the assistant) was the only one on the crew that spoke any English but we giggled the whole ride down, using English, Korean, Konglish, and very strange sound effects... hahaha. Every couple of hours we stopped for munchies. They introduced me to a new kind of bimbibab -- not too sure what exactly sea creature was in it but they kept on calling it "squid's cousin"... hahaha.
Upon arriving in Busan, despite the enjoyable trip down, our fun times were then interrupted by an overly tied-up-tight representative from the cruise line who insisted on monitoring our camera's every move... for practically the WHOLE 2-day trip! Mini Min joked and asked me to upper cut the representative. I joked and said "I'm a professional -- nothings for free", to which Mini Min added "I've got money!!!"
Finally after much debating with the representative, we boarded the cruise. I was definitely thrown off when I was greeted by English-speaking cruise crew members. There were four female foreigners working on the cruise, all of which I think were Russian. They loaded us up with welcome goodies: balloon flowers, cookies, and even a full-sized cake. Later, after the meet-and-greet, we were escorted to our room, a deluxe suite with a great view of the water.
Not too sure what they were thinking with the double beds though. I joked with Snickers and called shot-gun on the bed beside the window, we both knew there'd be no way he'd let me sleep alone though.
One thing I found particularly interesting were all the Japanese vending machines on the boat. I love Japanese snackies but I'm not too sure about these late night snacks -- frozen food dishes. Hmmm.... no thanks.
We passed on eating any Japanese frozen foods and instead feasted away in the dining room on the BBQ buffet they had arranged.
From the moment we stepped out of the Arirang crew van our every movement was monitored by two accompanying cameras and our every sound was recorded via the microphones they had wired our shirts with. So with Snickers and I being stalked with a six member crew, we definitely stirred up a lot of attention. Other visitors on the cruise took pictures of us and I met a cool Korean man who spoke English and was from Toronto. 
Almost missing the sunset was quite the hilarious situation that involved a lot of running on deck, major posing for the camera, and lots of laughs.
But it was worth it. The sunset was breathtaking and beautiful... and it reminded me of the sunset we watched in Bali when we went fishing on our honeymoon.
After the sunset, we watched an amazing fireworks show. The cruise had arranged a lot of shows for us actually. Let's see, there was the magic show, a dance show, a traditional Chinese mask show, and the musicians' shows. It had been quite an entertaining day and evening but the strongest memory I'll take away from this cruise experience will be the karaoke show.
Later on we ventured back up again to the top patio for some outside BBQ time. Earlier on, after the fireworks, they started a huge group dance. Snickers got pulled into the middle of their dance circle but I was quick to jump in and rescue him. Singing in public is certainly not my thing but I think I'm a pretty good dancer. Pulled out some silly moves and introduced them all to my version of 'the Sprinkler'... hahaha!!!
Despite being in the south part of South Korea, it was super cold. My Polish tush was practically frozen. Snickers is no stranger of PDA (public displays of affection) though, so his PDA kept me warm.
QUESTION OF THE DAY...
Have you gotten your daily dose of PDA?
QUOTE OF THE DAY...
Make love, not war.
-- Author Unknown
Upon arriving in Busan, despite the enjoyable trip down, our fun times were then interrupted by an overly tied-up-tight representative from the cruise line who insisted on monitoring our camera's every move... for practically the WHOLE 2-day trip! Mini Min joked and asked me to upper cut the representative. I joked and said "I'm a professional -- nothings for free", to which Mini Min added "I've got money!!!"
Finally after much debating with the representative, we boarded the cruise. I was definitely thrown off when I was greeted by English-speaking cruise crew members. There were four female foreigners working on the cruise, all of which I think were Russian. They loaded us up with welcome goodies: balloon flowers, cookies, and even a full-sized cake. Later, after the meet-and-greet, we were escorted to our room, a deluxe suite with a great view of the water.
Not too sure what they were thinking with the double beds though. I joked with Snickers and called shot-gun on the bed beside the window, we both knew there'd be no way he'd let me sleep alone though.
One thing I found particularly interesting were all the Japanese vending machines on the boat. I love Japanese snackies but I'm not too sure about these late night snacks -- frozen food dishes. Hmmm.... no thanks.
We passed on eating any Japanese frozen foods and instead feasted away in the dining room on the BBQ buffet they had arranged.
From the moment we stepped out of the Arirang crew van our every movement was monitored by two accompanying cameras and our every sound was recorded via the microphones they had wired our shirts with. So with Snickers and I being stalked with a six member crew, we definitely stirred up a lot of attention. Other visitors on the cruise took pictures of us and I met a cool Korean man who spoke English and was from Toronto. He told Snickers he was a very lucky man to have a "Bloor West Village Girl" as a wife. Snickers has yet to experienced the wonderful world of Toronto's Bloor West Village but he soon will. It's funny cause I'm not even from Toronto actually. I'm from a small city about an hour outside of Toronto but it wasn't until I moved to Toronto for university that I feel I actually grew up and came into my own.
Almost missing the sunset was quite the hilarious situation that involved a lot of running on deck, major posing for the camera, and lots of laughs.
But it was worth it. The sunset was breathtaking and beautiful... and it reminded me of the sunset we watched in Bali when we went fishing on our honeymoon.
After the sunset, we watched an amazing fireworks show. The cruise had arranged a lot of shows for us actually. Let's see, there was the magic show, a dance show, a traditional Chinese mask show, and the musicians' shows. It had been quite an entertaining day and evening but the strongest memory I'll take away from this cruise experience will be the karaoke show.Snickers may be all game for showing his so-called ADD behaviour around friends and family and he may be into making a fool of himself for the sake of making me laugh, but public singing is not his thing. He is definitely one of the rare Koreans that you'll never find in a karaoke bar. He sings to me all the time but ask him to sing in public and with a mic, forget it!!
The director of Arirang had pre-arranged with the cruise crew to call us up to sing in front of everyone on the cruise! When he informed us of this our jaws dropped and I pleaded with him not to make us do it. By that time we had been wearing our microphones for most of the day, so I totally forgot that they were listening in. I whispered to Snickers to excuse himself from the table for a bathroom break but to meet me up top on the deck instead. Well, of course they caught us before we could even go through with our plan.
What happened was Snickers ended up getting on stage!!!
Yup, it's true. Snickers got up on stage, was handed the singing mic and then I was pushed up on stage to dance beside him! The VJ for the show introduced us to the crowd and was delighted to have me snap back with some funny Korean lines when he mistook me for not knowing any Korean. "My wife's a professional boxer, so be careful" Snickers told him, and with that the crowd went wild. They loved the fact that we were newlyweds, too.
Then the music came on; it was time for Snickers to sing.
He had picked a funny song and, despite being super shy in front of the crowd and hating every second he was on stage, he acted out the song. I've never seen this side of him so I was so incredibly shocked. I didn't do much of dancing but instead stood there with my dropped jaw and giggled the song away in shock. He was nothing short of awesome!
Later on we ventured back up again to the top patio for some outside BBQ time. Earlier on, after the fireworks, they started a huge group dance. Snickers got pulled into the middle of their dance circle but I was quick to jump in and rescue him. Singing in public is certainly not my thing but I think I'm a pretty good dancer. Pulled out some silly moves and introduced them all to my version of 'the Sprinkler'... hahaha!!!
Despite being in the south part of South Korea, it was super cold. My Polish tush was practically frozen. Snickers is no stranger of PDA (public displays of affection) though, so his PDA kept me warm. QUESTION OF THE DAY...
Have you gotten your daily dose of PDA?
QUOTE OF THE DAY...
Make love, not war.
-- Author Unknown
Friday, May 28, 2010
Highlights of my Day... Friday, May 28
Lots of news for today:
Yesterday marked my last tutoring session with Peanut Butter and Jelly, and then today marked my last tutoring session with Twinkle Toes. Peanut Butter and Jelly are off to the States for their big two year move and Twinkle Toes will be returning to her home town soon for her university vacation.
Another member joined my early morning language group.
The city is building a new playground at the park across the street from our house. We’re totally stoked about that! I think they may even be putting in not one but two large winding slides… cool.
Tomorrow Snickers and I will be going on a two-day filming shot with Arirang TV, so we’ll be going on a two-day cruise with a camera crew. I’ve had my share of camera action so I not too thrilled about having my every movement monitored and filmed but I can’t complain. We scored a two-day all expenses paid cruise and I’m sure it’s going to be awesome.
QUESTION OF THE DAY...
What plans do you have?
QUOTE OF THE DAY...
Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans.
-- John Lennon
Yesterday marked my last tutoring session with Peanut Butter and Jelly, and then today marked my last tutoring session with Twinkle Toes. Peanut Butter and Jelly are off to the States for their big two year move and Twinkle Toes will be returning to her home town soon for her university vacation.
Another member joined my early morning language group.
My hair is no longer freakishly grayish-blue.
Looks like I’ll be taking a little trip to The Philippines!!! It’s still not officially stamped and agreed upon but word has it July 7 Snickers may be getting his much anticipated for fight but it’ll be in The Philippines… awesome.
Little Miss has been MIA at boxing for a couple of days. We think she ran away again.
My Samsung internet commercial shooting scheduled for next week got postponed a month.
The city is building a new playground at the park across the street from our house. We’re totally stoked about that! I think they may even be putting in not one but two large winding slides… cool.Tomorrow Snickers and I will be going on a two-day filming shot with Arirang TV, so we’ll be going on a two-day cruise with a camera crew. I’ve had my share of camera action so I not too thrilled about having my every movement monitored and filmed but I can’t complain. We scored a two-day all expenses paid cruise and I’m sure it’s going to be awesome.
QUESTION OF THE DAY...
What plans do you have?
QUOTE OF THE DAY...
Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans.
-- John Lennon
Thursday, May 27, 2010
My new hair cut and dye job.
Snickers particularly liked the pretty diamond-studded hair band I sported today but I certainly got mixed reactions from some Canadian friends on msn about it.
And talking about mixed reactions, perms are nice and all but I don't really care for my husband to perm his hair like a girl. His hair grows like a weed in the sun and he's itching to get a perm. Today he headed out to Seoul for the evening to get his hair cut by the so-called Miracle Worker. "Come back with a perm" I noted, "and I'll dye my hair black!" Needless to say, he won't be getting a perm anytime soon. Highlights of my day... Thursday, May 27
Starting next week, I will be working at the Cheonan jail.
Yup, it’s true. I found this rather amusing. I couldn’t help but laugh when I got the call and was offered the position. I told them that I’d have to discuss it with my husband and call them tomorrow. I take it the lady offering me the position thought I was nervous because she was quick to tell me I’d be teaching the staff, not the inmates. When I filled Snickers in on the news, he laughed. “You’re going to work at my old house?” he asked. “Yup!”
Oddly enough , I am definitely looking forward to working at the Cheonan jail. It’s just recentantly turned into an all-foreigner inmate prison but I’m curious as to whether or not I’ll be teaching any of the staff Snickers knew. Because of the fact that at the Cheonan jail was where Snickers started officially boxing, he made quite a name for himself there and I’m curious as to whether or not his legacy there lives on. We shall soon see!!!
In addition to tutoring at the Cheonan jail, I also picked up another sweet gig today. Starting next week I’ll also be tutoring the vice president of Samsung in Cheonan.
I may never go back to a regular 9-5 job if this keeps up!
QUESTION OF THE DAY…
Do you do what you want to do or what you have to do?
QUOTE OF THE DAY…
Nothing is really work unless you would rather be doing something else.
-- James M. Barrie
Yup, it’s true. I found this rather amusing. I couldn’t help but laugh when I got the call and was offered the position. I told them that I’d have to discuss it with my husband and call them tomorrow. I take it the lady offering me the position thought I was nervous because she was quick to tell me I’d be teaching the staff, not the inmates. When I filled Snickers in on the news, he laughed. “You’re going to work at my old house?” he asked. “Yup!”
Oddly enough , I am definitely looking forward to working at the Cheonan jail. It’s just recentantly turned into an all-foreigner inmate prison but I’m curious as to whether or not I’ll be teaching any of the staff Snickers knew. Because of the fact that at the Cheonan jail was where Snickers started officially boxing, he made quite a name for himself there and I’m curious as to whether or not his legacy there lives on. We shall soon see!!!
In addition to tutoring at the Cheonan jail, I also picked up another sweet gig today. Starting next week I’ll also be tutoring the vice president of Samsung in Cheonan.
I may never go back to a regular 9-5 job if this keeps up!
QUESTION OF THE DAY…
Do you do what you want to do or what you have to do?
QUOTE OF THE DAY…
Nothing is really work unless you would rather be doing something else.
-- James M. Barrie
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Highlights of my Day... Wednesday, May 26
I had started my day off on a high note.
Two extra members joined my 7:40am language group meeting, bringing the group’s member list tally up to eight. I then met up with Twinkle Toes and then Peanut Butter and Jelly for tutoring. Next it was off to the hair salon where I sat for the next hour and a bit getting my hair dyed and giggling over girl talk with the stylist and her cute little assistant.
I am now a brunette again… well, kind of.
Because bleach doesn’t really like sharing my hair with any other hair colour, my hair is kind of grayish-blue but only for the next day or so.
“Invest in a good hair colourist Amy!” is probably what you’re saying. I know, I know. But you try having baby-fine used and abused hair in a country full of people with thick black hair that you can so easily use and abuse and expect to grow back crazy fast like a lion’s mane! Blonde hair dye isn’t a regularly used hair dye colour in this country so you can’t blame them for not knowing how to really attack it. It’s kind of pointless for them to learn how to do something they may never be asked to perform.
For the rest of the day I walked around as a super shy girl. My hair did this the last time too, change a strange colour for a couple of days. I was expecting this but I haven’t quite mastered the whole shyness that comes with walking around town looking like a Smirf.
At boxing I kept my hooded sweater over my head and I walked around town with a baseball cap on, but later in the evening I had to toughen up and let my hair loose. Snickers and I had plans to go see 2pm perform at the Dankook festival. Thankfully it was dark out when we arrived, meaning that I could somewhat relax about the whole funky-coloured hair issue.
As for 2pm, they were pretty good… if you like a bunch of overly thin boys lip singing and jumping around on stage that is. They were entertaining but both Snickers and I agreed that the opening band definitely outshined them by far. I was too distracted by the screaming girls; they were hysterically yelling and screaming. One of the 2pm members kept on motioning that he was going to lift up his top and show his midsection, so I couldn’t help but roll my eyes. “Oh please” I thought to myself. “I see abs every day!” After the show, Snickers and I started to talk about this and how the girls in the crowd seemed overly eager to see 2pm reveal their bodies (which I should note they didn’t).
The crowd was loving 2pm and all their teasing gestures. Maybe it’s because most of the crowd were of university age, I don’t know, but boy did those girls ever scream! God has apparently gifted them with excessively big lungs, wow!!!
Such a strange topic to talk about, I apologize, but I thought I’d let myself ramble today.
QUESTION OF THE DAY…
What’s the point of screaming your head off at a celebrity?
QUOTE OF THE DAY…
A celebrity is a person who works hard all his life to become well known, then wears dark glasses to avoid being recognized.
-- Fred Allen
Two extra members joined my 7:40am language group meeting, bringing the group’s member list tally up to eight. I then met up with Twinkle Toes and then Peanut Butter and Jelly for tutoring. Next it was off to the hair salon where I sat for the next hour and a bit getting my hair dyed and giggling over girl talk with the stylist and her cute little assistant.
I am now a brunette again… well, kind of.
Because bleach doesn’t really like sharing my hair with any other hair colour, my hair is kind of grayish-blue but only for the next day or so.
“Invest in a good hair colourist Amy!” is probably what you’re saying. I know, I know. But you try having baby-fine used and abused hair in a country full of people with thick black hair that you can so easily use and abuse and expect to grow back crazy fast like a lion’s mane! Blonde hair dye isn’t a regularly used hair dye colour in this country so you can’t blame them for not knowing how to really attack it. It’s kind of pointless for them to learn how to do something they may never be asked to perform.
For the rest of the day I walked around as a super shy girl. My hair did this the last time too, change a strange colour for a couple of days. I was expecting this but I haven’t quite mastered the whole shyness that comes with walking around town looking like a Smirf.
At boxing I kept my hooded sweater over my head and I walked around town with a baseball cap on, but later in the evening I had to toughen up and let my hair loose. Snickers and I had plans to go see 2pm perform at the Dankook festival. Thankfully it was dark out when we arrived, meaning that I could somewhat relax about the whole funky-coloured hair issue.
The concert was great, though I must note that I was much more entertained by the student band that opened up for 2pm, the main feature of the night. The opening group sound some English songs and I was quite impressed with their pronunciation and performance. It’s pretty hard to sing in another language so I definitely had to give them the much due credit – awesome job guys!!!
As for 2pm, they were pretty good… if you like a bunch of overly thin boys lip singing and jumping around on stage that is. They were entertaining but both Snickers and I agreed that the opening band definitely outshined them by far. I was too distracted by the screaming girls; they were hysterically yelling and screaming. One of the 2pm members kept on motioning that he was going to lift up his top and show his midsection, so I couldn’t help but roll my eyes. “Oh please” I thought to myself. “I see abs every day!” After the show, Snickers and I started to talk about this and how the girls in the crowd seemed overly eager to see 2pm reveal their bodies (which I should note they didn’t).
If a little bit of male skin was enough to send these girls into hysteria than a visit to my boxing club would make their heads explode. In addition to Snickers at home, on average I see about five guys a day at my boxing club either shirtless or in just their bare necessities (undies). Skin is not a rare thing at the boxing club where members are constantly dropping their clothes to step on the scale for weigh-in or are coming back from a post-workout shower. So five guys a day times five days a week I train…. that’s 25 guys a week plus Snickers. Skin may be in but when your daily routine is bombarded with it and you’re married to the finest male specie walking the face of this planet, it takes a lot for me to be impressed. My teammates and, more importantly, my husband have set the standards high. Those 2pm boys definitely had nothing on my Snickers.
The crowd was loving 2pm and all their teasing gestures. Maybe it’s because most of the crowd were of university age, I don’t know, but boy did those girls ever scream! God has apparently gifted them with excessively big lungs, wow!!!
Such a strange topic to talk about, I apologize, but I thought I’d let myself ramble today.
QUESTION OF THE DAY…
What’s the point of screaming your head off at a celebrity?
QUOTE OF THE DAY…
A celebrity is a person who works hard all his life to become well known, then wears dark glasses to avoid being recognized.
-- Fred Allen
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Highlights of my Day... Tuesday, May 25
I’ve decided to change the format of my daily homepage entries, and instead of writing about ten highlights of my day, I’m going to pick one or two things to write about… or many, my choice. Some days I may ramble on and on but some days I may stick to writing only a couple of words.
No plans to travel to Canada until the original planned date (August 5) because of doctor’s orders and my father’s orders. Mama Bere is to recover in peace and keep her daily activities to an all-time minimum.
As for boxing, no definite word yet on when Snickers will be fighting (very frustrating issue there) but I may have a fight scheduled for the next upcoming month or so… stay tuned.
QUESTION OF THE DAY...
Should I keep writing a question of the day?
QUOTE OF THE DAY...
Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans.
-- John Lennon
Upcoming things in my schedule:
Saturday, May 29 to Sunday, May 30
Filming with Arirang TV on a two-day cruise
Monday, May 31
Filming a commercial
Sunday, June 6
Filming with Arirang TV on a fishing boat excursion
No plans to travel to Canada until the original planned date (August 5) because of doctor’s orders and my father’s orders. Mama Bere is to recover in peace and keep her daily activities to an all-time minimum.
As for boxing, no definite word yet on when Snickers will be fighting (very frustrating issue there) but I may have a fight scheduled for the next upcoming month or so… stay tuned.
QUESTION OF THE DAY...
Should I keep writing a question of the day?
QUOTE OF THE DAY...
Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans.
-- John Lennon
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Not too sure what kind of face he's going for here but note the ice cream in his hand. We go grocery shopping once or twice a week, so I often have to bribe him with ice cream.... I love the grocery store!!!
What's up with this?! 'Seasoned Dried Pollack', as in Polish people... if the saying "you are what you eat" is true than trust me, us Polish folk definitely wouldn't be a fish... hahaha. Highlights of my... Week, kind of (May 16 - 19)
1. The past few days haven’t been really busy but I’ve been overly distracted, distracted by numerous things. I’m happy to note that my temp job in Seoul is officially done. It wasn’t so bad actually, come to think of it. My coworker was a sweetheart and we’ve text messaged a couple of times this week. I’m still going hard with my boxing and am happy to note that with my schedule returning to normal I’ll be able to get back into running. Work wise, I’ve been doing my language group meetings four times a week and then privately tutoring my three students, all of which are awesome!
2. Was witness to a very public man vrs. man chase in the street. Koreans may not have guns but they do have other means of abuse, like the steel bat I saw this overly angry man chasing what looked like a university student down the street at 1am. I’m usually not up that late and I wasn’t but with my kitchen window being open, and it being literally being the size of my whole kitchen wall, it was kind of hard to not wake up to the sound of a screaming man in the middle of the night. It was quite the chase and would have ended to right at the end of my street too had Snickers not yelled out to the man and told him what direction he saw the kid run in. “How about you go down there and drive him too” I sarcastically asked Snickers. He didn’t quite get my sarcasim and had I not stopped him I’m sure he would have joined the guy and jumped in on this public chase down.
3. Speaking of public fights, I myself was actually in a public fight, a food fight that is. It involved me hanging out the kitchen window and throwing about $15 worth of perfectly palm-sized oranges out at a car – Snickers’ car that is. And what started out as me throwing them in anger turned into quite the scene with Snickers egging me on, mocking me that I couldn’t hit the car. Ended up hitting the car – the WRONG car.
4. My freakish and annoyingly bothersome cold, or whatever the heck was going on with my nose, eyes and throat, hit a peak on Wednesday when I woke up and had absolutely no voice. I couldn’t even so much call my language group or tutoring students to tell them the news, so I had to stick to text messaging and having Snickers answer all my calls. Woke up on Thursday and was in tip top shape again. I could breath and smell through my nose, I had no urges to scratch the heck out of my eyes, all my sneezing and coughing was gone, my throat was no longer dry as a bone, and I no longer sported a voice similar to a life-long smoker. Life became grand again.
5. Snickers’ new name around the house is “One Shot”. He’s a one-shot kind of guy in that he likes to leave his garbage around the house and then clean it up at the very end of the day. The same holds true for his clothes too which makes for a very uncomfortable situation when the delivery man comes and I’m standing next to a pair of random boxer briefs in the middle of the kitchen floor. His ‘one-shot’ mentality even extends into his shopping habits with clothes. We love food shopping but hate clothes shopping, so this past week we did a one-shot summer shopping spree. Snickers was determined to stock up on summer training clothes and we must have gone to at least 7 different Adidas factory outlets between Cheonan and Icheon (a two hour drive away).
6. Our day-long shopping trip included way too much singing and way too many joking around. We got stuck in brutal traffic on the way home because of road construction so Snickers thought it funny to stick one of those car-neck pillows on his head for all to see. You should have seen the stares and looks he got… hahaha. I thought I was going to pee my pants. Leave it to Snickers to make a total foolish freak out of himself and not care two hoots about what anyone thinks… he’s priceless!!!
2. Was witness to a very public man vrs. man chase in the street. Koreans may not have guns but they do have other means of abuse, like the steel bat I saw this overly angry man chasing what looked like a university student down the street at 1am. I’m usually not up that late and I wasn’t but with my kitchen window being open, and it being literally being the size of my whole kitchen wall, it was kind of hard to not wake up to the sound of a screaming man in the middle of the night. It was quite the chase and would have ended to right at the end of my street too had Snickers not yelled out to the man and told him what direction he saw the kid run in. “How about you go down there and drive him too” I sarcastically asked Snickers. He didn’t quite get my sarcasim and had I not stopped him I’m sure he would have joined the guy and jumped in on this public chase down.
3. Speaking of public fights, I myself was actually in a public fight, a food fight that is. It involved me hanging out the kitchen window and throwing about $15 worth of perfectly palm-sized oranges out at a car – Snickers’ car that is. And what started out as me throwing them in anger turned into quite the scene with Snickers egging me on, mocking me that I couldn’t hit the car. Ended up hitting the car – the WRONG car.
4. My freakish and annoyingly bothersome cold, or whatever the heck was going on with my nose, eyes and throat, hit a peak on Wednesday when I woke up and had absolutely no voice. I couldn’t even so much call my language group or tutoring students to tell them the news, so I had to stick to text messaging and having Snickers answer all my calls. Woke up on Thursday and was in tip top shape again. I could breath and smell through my nose, I had no urges to scratch the heck out of my eyes, all my sneezing and coughing was gone, my throat was no longer dry as a bone, and I no longer sported a voice similar to a life-long smoker. Life became grand again.
5. Snickers’ new name around the house is “One Shot”. He’s a one-shot kind of guy in that he likes to leave his garbage around the house and then clean it up at the very end of the day. The same holds true for his clothes too which makes for a very uncomfortable situation when the delivery man comes and I’m standing next to a pair of random boxer briefs in the middle of the kitchen floor. His ‘one-shot’ mentality even extends into his shopping habits with clothes. We love food shopping but hate clothes shopping, so this past week we did a one-shot summer shopping spree. Snickers was determined to stock up on summer training clothes and we must have gone to at least 7 different Adidas factory outlets between Cheonan and Icheon (a two hour drive away).
6. Our day-long shopping trip included way too much singing and way too many joking around. We got stuck in brutal traffic on the way home because of road construction so Snickers thought it funny to stick one of those car-neck pillows on his head for all to see. You should have seen the stares and looks he got… hahaha. I thought I was going to pee my pants. Leave it to Snickers to make a total foolish freak out of himself and not care two hoots about what anyone thinks… he’s priceless!!!
7. I didn’t get a chance to see Little Miss last Friday because I had gone to boxing in the early afternoon so this week I gave her the birthday present I bought her. Now I can’t seem to get this girl off me, seriously! Whether it’s her trying to hug me to death, throw excessive smiles my way, or stop in the middle of training to make heart signs with her hands, she’s totally loving this ‘older sister’ role Snickers convinced me to take on. And of course I totally blame Snickers for all this too. I told him that for every act of affection she gives me at boxing he has to give me two. Needless to say, I’ve been excessively groped and mauled at boxing lately… hahaha.
8. Agreed to do two episodes with Arirang, the first of which will be filmed this upcoming Sunday. It’s kind of like a where to go and what to do show for foreigners in Korea, and the plan is this Sunday to go on a mini cruise.
9. Still waiting to hear back from Papa Bere regarding Mama Bere’s condition and whether or not I should skip town to see her in Canada. I’m tempted to just get up but it’s not that simple in that I may not even be allowed to see her.
10. Snickers and I, being the kind of couple I once use to gag over, have brought about a new meaning to the word ‘closeness’. We are way beyond being comfortable with each other to the point that there are no secrets and no boundries. Snickers loves being depended upon, something that I was very quick to learn earlier on in our relationship, so he loves it when I ask him to help me out. Whether it’s him helping to put on my necklace or driving me to my language group in the earlier than early morning, he loves feeling depended upon. He really plays up the whole “princess mentality” that so many Korean girls foster. Things that I once use to do myself or pay someone else to do, like getting a manicure or pedicure, are now roles Snickers has willingly taken on. Yes, my husband does my nails. He doesn’t paint them but he cuts and files them, both my fingernails and toenails. He cleans out my ears, tweezes my eyebrows, gives me foot and back massages, and after he drives me to my morning language group meeting he waits for me in the car. My husband may very well be the most amazing man known to mankind, I’m convinced of it. And all he really expects in return is for me to love him and scrub his back in the shower… hahaha.
QUESTION OF THE DAY...
How awesome do you have it?
QUOTE OF THE DAY...
The world is a tragedy to those who feel, but a comedy to those who think.
-- Horace Walpole
Saturday, May 15, 2010
Highlights of my Day... Saturday, May 15
1. Snickers trekked off to work for his last day of his temp job, leaving me home and alone.
2. Had I not been as sick as a dog, I would have been bored out of my skull. I’m not too sure what the heck I’ve got going on, whether it’s allergies, a cold, or even the flu, but whatever it is it’s driving me mental. My nose is clogged like there’s no tomorrow, I spontaneously go into sneezing fits, my mouth is so dang dry and scratching from having to breath out of it, and my voice has become raspy.
3. My Vicks mask soaked in Vicks vapor rub no longer has an effect on me like the other day and I ran out of my much needed NyQuil a while back. I’m not too keen on going to the doctors here in Korea because it means going to the hospital, a nesting place for every sickness under the sun and where if you’re not already sick you’re bound to pick something up. Moreover, Korean hospitals are notorious for giving you a shot in the bum for just about everything. I’m sure it’s only an extra dose of vitamins but I rather keep my Polish tush to myself and stick to eating my fruits and veggies.
4. Yesterday I ate but only my morning protein-packed pancake and two small tangerines the size of golf balls. Today I slept the day away and besides getting up twice to take a pee break, I didn’t do anything else which meant I also didn’t eat.
5. Snickers returned to Ggum Guum after work looking like he had just gone to a tanning salon. His buddies tease him about his darker complextion but I think his glowing, sun-kissed skin looks beautiful.
6. No sooner did Snickers arrive home but then he was heading out the door again. It was Grandpa-K’s birthday and, though he is no longer with us, today the Kim family was hosting a birthday ceremony at his tomb. Again I missed out on a family gathering on account of whatever the heck is going on with my body these days… dang.
7. And so I went back to sleep.
8. I woke up around 5:30pm to the sound of my neighbor’s dog going haywire outside in the hall.
9. I bit my upper lift and thought I’d wait it out, hoping that my neighbor or someone for that matter would come out and stop it from barking. After a half an hour I couldn’t take it anymore. I swung open the door and stepped into the hall. I had initially thought the mutt was in the hall, turns out it was in my neighbor’s apartment but they had propped the door open and put up a mini metal fence. And there in the background were my neighbors, sitting and watching TV. I’m on good terms with my neighbors but they know Snickers and I can’t stand their overly hyper, super nosiey and ultra annoying dog. I didn’t know what to say, I was tired, sick, furious and I wanted nothing more than to field goal that dog (metaphically speaking that is). I didn’t know what to say and ended up blurting out “I’m going to eat your dog if it doesn’t stop!” Honestly though, I’m not too sure whether or not they were more shocked at what I said or the fact that I had presented myself in their doorway wearing a pair of Snickers’ boxer briefs, a tank top, and a head full of overly-frizzy bedhead… hahaha.
10. Got word that one of my brothers just got engaged!!! He’s been living in New York and along with success and fame, he’s also found love, so congrats to the King of Queens!!! My soon-to-be sister-in-law is a trendy little American gal and God bless her for being able to tame my brother and his wild ways down... hahaha. All the best to the beautiful couple!!!
QUESTION OF THE DAY...
What have you found lately?
QUOTE OF THE DAY...
I used to believe that marriage would diminish me, reduce my options. That you had to be someone less to live with someone else when, of course, you have to be someone more.
-- Candice Bergen
2. Had I not been as sick as a dog, I would have been bored out of my skull. I’m not too sure what the heck I’ve got going on, whether it’s allergies, a cold, or even the flu, but whatever it is it’s driving me mental. My nose is clogged like there’s no tomorrow, I spontaneously go into sneezing fits, my mouth is so dang dry and scratching from having to breath out of it, and my voice has become raspy.
3. My Vicks mask soaked in Vicks vapor rub no longer has an effect on me like the other day and I ran out of my much needed NyQuil a while back. I’m not too keen on going to the doctors here in Korea because it means going to the hospital, a nesting place for every sickness under the sun and where if you’re not already sick you’re bound to pick something up. Moreover, Korean hospitals are notorious for giving you a shot in the bum for just about everything. I’m sure it’s only an extra dose of vitamins but I rather keep my Polish tush to myself and stick to eating my fruits and veggies.
4. Yesterday I ate but only my morning protein-packed pancake and two small tangerines the size of golf balls. Today I slept the day away and besides getting up twice to take a pee break, I didn’t do anything else which meant I also didn’t eat.
5. Snickers returned to Ggum Guum after work looking like he had just gone to a tanning salon. His buddies tease him about his darker complextion but I think his glowing, sun-kissed skin looks beautiful.
6. No sooner did Snickers arrive home but then he was heading out the door again. It was Grandpa-K’s birthday and, though he is no longer with us, today the Kim family was hosting a birthday ceremony at his tomb. Again I missed out on a family gathering on account of whatever the heck is going on with my body these days… dang.
7. And so I went back to sleep.
8. I woke up around 5:30pm to the sound of my neighbor’s dog going haywire outside in the hall.
9. I bit my upper lift and thought I’d wait it out, hoping that my neighbor or someone for that matter would come out and stop it from barking. After a half an hour I couldn’t take it anymore. I swung open the door and stepped into the hall. I had initially thought the mutt was in the hall, turns out it was in my neighbor’s apartment but they had propped the door open and put up a mini metal fence. And there in the background were my neighbors, sitting and watching TV. I’m on good terms with my neighbors but they know Snickers and I can’t stand their overly hyper, super nosiey and ultra annoying dog. I didn’t know what to say, I was tired, sick, furious and I wanted nothing more than to field goal that dog (metaphically speaking that is). I didn’t know what to say and ended up blurting out “I’m going to eat your dog if it doesn’t stop!” Honestly though, I’m not too sure whether or not they were more shocked at what I said or the fact that I had presented myself in their doorway wearing a pair of Snickers’ boxer briefs, a tank top, and a head full of overly-frizzy bedhead… hahaha.
10. Got word that one of my brothers just got engaged!!! He’s been living in New York and along with success and fame, he’s also found love, so congrats to the King of Queens!!! My soon-to-be sister-in-law is a trendy little American gal and God bless her for being able to tame my brother and his wild ways down... hahaha. All the best to the beautiful couple!!!
QUESTION OF THE DAY...
What have you found lately?
QUOTE OF THE DAY...
I used to believe that marriage would diminish me, reduce my options. That you had to be someone less to live with someone else when, of course, you have to be someone more.
-- Candice Bergen
Friday, May 14, 2010
Highlights of my Day... Friday, May 14
1. Showed up for my language group meeting and was the only one to show up, that is until one of my members noticed me in the room. He asked me why I came today. Turns out once a month their company goes out and does community service clean-up and today was that day. So with no one to teach and nothing to do but go home, I decided to hang out with my security guard friend for a bit and chat.
2. Not too sure what it is with me and security guards but they seem to favor me, seriously it’s really strange. The security guards at Dankook all remember me and even willingly offer me the office key even though I don’t even work there anymore and don’t even ask for it. Then there’s the security guard that directs the buses out of the terminal; he always winks at me though I’ve never talked to him before. At the opposite end of that same terminal, the other security guard always goes out of his way to shout out random English short sentences to me, to which I humor myself by responding only in Korean. And then there are the security guards at the gas company where I have my morning language group meetings.
3. I don’t find myself to be a particularly stranger-friendly person and, if anything, I kind of go out of my way to not meet new people, but for some reason I always have random people approaching me throughout my day. Snickers blames it on my small Polish head, calling it a ‘people magnet’. Not too sure what he means by that but whatever, it’s funny.
4. Snickers head, and feet for that matter, is flat at the back and he once made a joke about my head shape because it’s quite round in the rear. During our honeymoon in Bali, he noticed that my head was the same shape as the other Pollacks we saw, and when he asked me why Polish people had such a unique roundness I told him quite the silly story. I told him that the back of Polish peoples’ head has a unique roundness to it because Poland was never a rich country and after Germany and Soviet Union invaded Poland and took them for all they had, God reached down to Poland. He then cradled the head of the Polish people, like a mother does a child, and said “I’m sorry Poland”, hence why the back of a Polish person’s head can be palmed so comfortably. Of course the story is bunk but it was passed down to me by a few Pollack who -- and you know how the story here goes – heard it from another Pollack who heard it from another Pollack.
5. Like the previous days at the other community centers, today I had three classes to teach, all of which were 50 minutes long. Fifty minutes isn’t long actually but considering the students who filled up my classes today and what went down, at certain moments I seriously thought time was standing still.
6. Time definitely stood still when a certain little boy entered the class late. Somebody said something to him, my coworker told him to sit down, and next thing I knew it he was yelling out a very distinct curse word to which we all gasped. He threw quite the tantrum and in my head I pictured myself throwing him out of my class – via the window. Kids are kids, I know that, and kids do stupid things, I know that too, but who the heck forgot to teach this kid some manners?! I was so shocked, we all were. I didn’t want to see him snap again so I tried to play it cool and I simply told him to play nicely. When I had them pair up for pair work I then went over to help him. It was obvious he was still worked up and about to blow like a volcano. “It’s ok, it’s ok.” I told him. I tried to take a positive approach to him by doing the pair work with him and being somewhat overly encouraging to his efforts, and it worked.
7. One of my favorite kids in the Friday classes is this little pudgy boy named Charlie. I love the name Charlie. He came early to class today so I got to joke around with him as he drew on the white board.
8. At quitting time it felt so good to be calling it an end to this temporary gig but I kind of felt sad saying goodbye to my Korean co-worker who had taught with me in class and acted as my translator. We had a lot of fun in class and she definitely helped to keep me sane when I was forced to deal with some not-so-sane kids. We did our usual walk to the subway together and just as we were about to part she handed me a little gift and attached to it was a little letter.
9. I thought I had played it smart today by buying my bus ticket home in the morning but with only two minutes to get from the subway platform to the bus door, I definitely cut it close – too close! I’m sure I must have been quite the sight, me running full force in high heels down the middle of the terminal… hahaha. The driver assumed I wasn’t coming and so they had let someone else take my seat, meaning that I’d be taking their seat on the next bus. When the next bus arrived, 15 minutes later, I got on and sat down. The person next to me congratulated me on my very public terminal sprint and this spurred a long one-hour ride home conversation. He was an older man whose interests laid in acupuncture but he was very quick to try to give me boxing tips and tips about self promotional work after I told him my interests were health and boxing. I had my laptop with me so I showed him pictures of Snickers and me at boxing and at previous fights.
10. Despite wanting to chat more with my cooler-than-cool bus seating partner, I had to rush off to the boxing club dinner party. I had just enough time to rush home and wash my face before Snickers swung by to pick me up. I wanted nothing more than to stay home and nurse my haywire allergies, or whatever the heck is going on with my nose and throat these days, but I had promised I’d at least swing by the party to say hi. Swinging by the party was good in that I got to see some of my favorite boxing boys (my teammates) and I got to see Motor Cross’ new super cute hair cut. However, it wasn’t so good in that a long-time-no-see sponsor of our boxing club took note of me being minus Q and asked “Where’s your boyfriend Amy?” The last dinner party Snickers and I both attended Q also attended, so I could see why this particular somewhat wouldn’t have noticed anything last time. But tonight, when he asked me where my boyfriend was, he was certainly shocked when I turned and said, “I don’t have a boyfriend. This is my husband.” He insisted I was joking, so he went around the table asking my teammates if I seriously had a husband. Snickers found it amusing but I felt so uncomfortable. It wasn’t until later, when we were out the door, that this same person came up to us and apologized. There really was no need to apologize. I knew he had meant no harm and considering everything, I understood where he was coming from. Nonetheless, it was still awkward.
QUESTION OF THE DAY...
What scene have you made lately?
QUOTE OF THE DAY...
Don't be too timid and squeamish about your actions. All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make the better.
-- Ralph Waldo Emerson
2. Not too sure what it is with me and security guards but they seem to favor me, seriously it’s really strange. The security guards at Dankook all remember me and even willingly offer me the office key even though I don’t even work there anymore and don’t even ask for it. Then there’s the security guard that directs the buses out of the terminal; he always winks at me though I’ve never talked to him before. At the opposite end of that same terminal, the other security guard always goes out of his way to shout out random English short sentences to me, to which I humor myself by responding only in Korean. And then there are the security guards at the gas company where I have my morning language group meetings.
3. I don’t find myself to be a particularly stranger-friendly person and, if anything, I kind of go out of my way to not meet new people, but for some reason I always have random people approaching me throughout my day. Snickers blames it on my small Polish head, calling it a ‘people magnet’. Not too sure what he means by that but whatever, it’s funny.
4. Snickers head, and feet for that matter, is flat at the back and he once made a joke about my head shape because it’s quite round in the rear. During our honeymoon in Bali, he noticed that my head was the same shape as the other Pollacks we saw, and when he asked me why Polish people had such a unique roundness I told him quite the silly story. I told him that the back of Polish peoples’ head has a unique roundness to it because Poland was never a rich country and after Germany and Soviet Union invaded Poland and took them for all they had, God reached down to Poland. He then cradled the head of the Polish people, like a mother does a child, and said “I’m sorry Poland”, hence why the back of a Polish person’s head can be palmed so comfortably. Of course the story is bunk but it was passed down to me by a few Pollack who -- and you know how the story here goes – heard it from another Pollack who heard it from another Pollack.
5. Like the previous days at the other community centers, today I had three classes to teach, all of which were 50 minutes long. Fifty minutes isn’t long actually but considering the students who filled up my classes today and what went down, at certain moments I seriously thought time was standing still.
6. Time definitely stood still when a certain little boy entered the class late. Somebody said something to him, my coworker told him to sit down, and next thing I knew it he was yelling out a very distinct curse word to which we all gasped. He threw quite the tantrum and in my head I pictured myself throwing him out of my class – via the window. Kids are kids, I know that, and kids do stupid things, I know that too, but who the heck forgot to teach this kid some manners?! I was so shocked, we all were. I didn’t want to see him snap again so I tried to play it cool and I simply told him to play nicely. When I had them pair up for pair work I then went over to help him. It was obvious he was still worked up and about to blow like a volcano. “It’s ok, it’s ok.” I told him. I tried to take a positive approach to him by doing the pair work with him and being somewhat overly encouraging to his efforts, and it worked.
7. One of my favorite kids in the Friday classes is this little pudgy boy named Charlie. I love the name Charlie. He came early to class today so I got to joke around with him as he drew on the white board.
8. At quitting time it felt so good to be calling it an end to this temporary gig but I kind of felt sad saying goodbye to my Korean co-worker who had taught with me in class and acted as my translator. We had a lot of fun in class and she definitely helped to keep me sane when I was forced to deal with some not-so-sane kids. We did our usual walk to the subway together and just as we were about to part she handed me a little gift and attached to it was a little letter.
9. I thought I had played it smart today by buying my bus ticket home in the morning but with only two minutes to get from the subway platform to the bus door, I definitely cut it close – too close! I’m sure I must have been quite the sight, me running full force in high heels down the middle of the terminal… hahaha. The driver assumed I wasn’t coming and so they had let someone else take my seat, meaning that I’d be taking their seat on the next bus. When the next bus arrived, 15 minutes later, I got on and sat down. The person next to me congratulated me on my very public terminal sprint and this spurred a long one-hour ride home conversation. He was an older man whose interests laid in acupuncture but he was very quick to try to give me boxing tips and tips about self promotional work after I told him my interests were health and boxing. I had my laptop with me so I showed him pictures of Snickers and me at boxing and at previous fights.
10. Despite wanting to chat more with my cooler-than-cool bus seating partner, I had to rush off to the boxing club dinner party. I had just enough time to rush home and wash my face before Snickers swung by to pick me up. I wanted nothing more than to stay home and nurse my haywire allergies, or whatever the heck is going on with my nose and throat these days, but I had promised I’d at least swing by the party to say hi. Swinging by the party was good in that I got to see some of my favorite boxing boys (my teammates) and I got to see Motor Cross’ new super cute hair cut. However, it wasn’t so good in that a long-time-no-see sponsor of our boxing club took note of me being minus Q and asked “Where’s your boyfriend Amy?” The last dinner party Snickers and I both attended Q also attended, so I could see why this particular somewhat wouldn’t have noticed anything last time. But tonight, when he asked me where my boyfriend was, he was certainly shocked when I turned and said, “I don’t have a boyfriend. This is my husband.” He insisted I was joking, so he went around the table asking my teammates if I seriously had a husband. Snickers found it amusing but I felt so uncomfortable. It wasn’t until later, when we were out the door, that this same person came up to us and apologized. There really was no need to apologize. I knew he had meant no harm and considering everything, I understood where he was coming from. Nonetheless, it was still awkward.
QUESTION OF THE DAY...
What scene have you made lately?
QUOTE OF THE DAY...
Don't be too timid and squeamish about your actions. All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make the better.
-- Ralph Waldo Emerson
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Highlights of my Day... Thursday, May 13
1. Woke up and was able to finally breath through my nose – my Vicks face mask invention was a success!!! Yah for a working nose!!!
2. On my first day at my language group meeting I made quite a good impression with the security guard. I had waited outside the company gates and ended up getting into a long chat with one of the security guards while I waited for Snickers. He knew of me and Snickers because of what he had seen us once on TV, so we chatted about exercising and dieting. He’s a middle-aged man who’s got a girlfriend living in Busan but who wants to lose some weight to wow his girlfriend. However, we haven’t really chatted lately. These past two weeks I’ve been so rushed for time because of my other tutoring. Today I didn’t have tutoring until 11am, so I stuck around to chat with him. Great guy.
3. I’m really liking tutoring Twinkle Toes. She is super adorable and her English rocks, but she tries too hard to come up with these grand answers to simple questions. I asked her to tell me what makes us the same and instead of the “we’re both girls” or the “we both wear make-up” simple answers I was expecting, she answered with “we both have compassion” and “we both have aspirations”… wow.
4. Originally, Peanut Butter and Jelly signed up for one week of four tutoring sessions with me but today I was so flattered to hear that they changed their original 4 only classes to three weeks of three classes a week with me.
5. Tutoring with Peanut Butter and Jelly started off with them admitting to goggling Snickers and I… hahaha. After tutoring I goggled myself but on Naver and was interested to what I found. I found the English version of a big article that was written about Snickers and I last summer. They totally killed the spelling of my last name!!!
6. Today’s all-boy class at the community center out in Seoul made up for the week of hard times and overly-hyper kids I had to deal with the other days of the week. It was a small class but I started them off with a group game. One team called themselves the Dragon Team whereas the other team insisted on naming themselves Team Dinosaur, both however brought equal amounts of awesome energy to the game.
7. The main organizer of the English teachers for the community centers came out today to sit-in on my class and to have a chat with me. Five minutes into the chat he offered me a job… then another… and then another! Three job offers in less than ten minutes. Job offer one was a job similar to this temp job I was doing, teaching at a community center every day, but it was a full time gig. Job offer number two was for their summer and winter camps and job offer three was to be a continual substitute teacher.
8. This Friday marks Snickers and my one year as a couple anniversary. We’ve been going full force and working our tails off this week so plans of a mini weekend get-away this weekend have been postponed to next weekend. The plan is to go to bed on Friday night and quite possibly sleep all of Saturday away.
9. Friday also marks the end of this temp job, my boxing club’s dinner party and it marks the birthday of Little Miss. Today I searched out a birthday gift for her while I was out in Seoul and what I picked out for her was lip gloss. I know I shouldn’t be encouraging a middle school kid to be wearing make-up but she already is obsessed with this cheap bright red lip stick that looks cheaper than what she probably paid for it. If she’s going to insist on wearing make-up than the least I can try to do is encourage her to wear age-appropriate make-up. I stopped by MAC Cosmetics today and shilled out a pretty penny for a pale pink lip gloss. On the way home I wrote a card to accompany the gift.
QUESTION OF THE DAY...
What are you thankful for today?
QUOTE OF THE DAY...
Gratitude is born in hearts that take time to count up past mercies.
-- Charles E. Jefferson
2. On my first day at my language group meeting I made quite a good impression with the security guard. I had waited outside the company gates and ended up getting into a long chat with one of the security guards while I waited for Snickers. He knew of me and Snickers because of what he had seen us once on TV, so we chatted about exercising and dieting. He’s a middle-aged man who’s got a girlfriend living in Busan but who wants to lose some weight to wow his girlfriend. However, we haven’t really chatted lately. These past two weeks I’ve been so rushed for time because of my other tutoring. Today I didn’t have tutoring until 11am, so I stuck around to chat with him. Great guy.
3. I’m really liking tutoring Twinkle Toes. She is super adorable and her English rocks, but she tries too hard to come up with these grand answers to simple questions. I asked her to tell me what makes us the same and instead of the “we’re both girls” or the “we both wear make-up” simple answers I was expecting, she answered with “we both have compassion” and “we both have aspirations”… wow.
4. Originally, Peanut Butter and Jelly signed up for one week of four tutoring sessions with me but today I was so flattered to hear that they changed their original 4 only classes to three weeks of three classes a week with me.
5. Tutoring with Peanut Butter and Jelly started off with them admitting to goggling Snickers and I… hahaha. After tutoring I goggled myself but on Naver and was interested to what I found. I found the English version of a big article that was written about Snickers and I last summer. They totally killed the spelling of my last name!!!
6. Today’s all-boy class at the community center out in Seoul made up for the week of hard times and overly-hyper kids I had to deal with the other days of the week. It was a small class but I started them off with a group game. One team called themselves the Dragon Team whereas the other team insisted on naming themselves Team Dinosaur, both however brought equal amounts of awesome energy to the game.
7. The main organizer of the English teachers for the community centers came out today to sit-in on my class and to have a chat with me. Five minutes into the chat he offered me a job… then another… and then another! Three job offers in less than ten minutes. Job offer one was a job similar to this temp job I was doing, teaching at a community center every day, but it was a full time gig. Job offer number two was for their summer and winter camps and job offer three was to be a continual substitute teacher.
8. This Friday marks Snickers and my one year as a couple anniversary. We’ve been going full force and working our tails off this week so plans of a mini weekend get-away this weekend have been postponed to next weekend. The plan is to go to bed on Friday night and quite possibly sleep all of Saturday away.
9. Friday also marks the end of this temp job, my boxing club’s dinner party and it marks the birthday of Little Miss. Today I searched out a birthday gift for her while I was out in Seoul and what I picked out for her was lip gloss. I know I shouldn’t be encouraging a middle school kid to be wearing make-up but she already is obsessed with this cheap bright red lip stick that looks cheaper than what she probably paid for it. If she’s going to insist on wearing make-up than the least I can try to do is encourage her to wear age-appropriate make-up. I stopped by MAC Cosmetics today and shilled out a pretty penny for a pale pink lip gloss. On the way home I wrote a card to accompany the gift.
10. I had placed the pretty little MAC box on the table with the card so that I wouldn’t forget it when I went to boxing. Snickers, however, mistook it as a gift for him and eagerly ripped open the box!!! I was in the other room when all this was going on so I had no idea until I heard him yell out “I wear chap stick, not lip gloss!” from the kitchen. Ended up having to go to MAC in Cheonan to get another box.동생 안녕…ㅋㅋㅋ
동생 생일 때문에 쇼핀 갔어요. 보통 쇼핑 싫아하지만 좋은 선물 찾고 싶었어요. 너는 화장하기에 너무 어려 그렇지만 화장 하고싶어면 조금만 해주세요… 많이 화장 하면 나빠요. 동생한테 제일 좋은 립글로스 샀어요… MAC 립글로스예요.
동생은 나 새로운 동생 그래서 행복 한 생일 하고 싶어요. 매일 행복 해주세요.
-- 에이미TRANSLATION
Hello younger sister… hahaha
Because of you, younger sister, I went shopping. Usually I hate shopping but I wanted to find you a good present. You are too young to wear make-up but if you want to wear make-up please only wear a little… if you wear a lot of make-up it’s not good. I bought you the best lip gloss… MAC lip gloss.
You are my new younger sister so I want you to have a happy birthday. Please be happy every day.
-- Amy
QUESTION OF THE DAY...
What are you thankful for today?
QUOTE OF THE DAY...
Gratitude is born in hearts that take time to count up past mercies.
-- Charles E. Jefferson
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Highlights of my Day... Wednesday, May 12
1. Had full attendance for my morning language group.
2. It’s been a busy week so far and yet it’s only Wednesday.
3. Whether I’ve been running off to tutoring, flying off to Seoul for substituting, or rushing off to boxing, I feel like I honestly haven’t had any down time or a chance to breath.. not that I could breath cause of my nasty clogged nose. This week’s busy schedule is a continuation of last week’s, but thankfully it’ll all be over this upcoming Friday. I’ve never been one to be driven by cash but let’s face it, me working like a slave for two weeks and racking in more cash in these two weeks alone compared to what my former coworkers at the university make in a month is pretty sweet! Even with their overtime I killed their paycheck, so there’s no denying that it’s pretty sweet.
4. Today I worked for five totally different people for five separate pay checks… sweet.
5. In all honestly though, I much rather stay at home and do my own thing than be running around Korea like a chicken with its’ head cut off. The money is great, there’s no denying it, but I much prefer to spend my afternoons sipping on coffee with Cherry Pie and then having energy to not only train hardcore but to put towards Snickers too. I’ve only gone running two times in the last week and a half, and although I’ve been consistent with sticking to my boxing, my energy levels and performance levels at boxing have definitely been altered.
6. I tutored Tinkle Toes and then Peanut Butter and Jelly, in between which I then scooted over to see the Cheonan Trump and collect his ‘support’.
7. My substituting gig in Seoul at the community center didn’t start until 4pm but I had to start making my way there at 2pm. An hour and forty minute trek there and then an hour and forty minute trek back is brutal for sucking the energy out of you. My second wind came courticy my bus driver and a school van/bus driver who decided neither was going to yield the right away. We were just a minute or two away from the Cheonan terminal when the bus I was totally clipped the tail end of a smaller bus. Both bus drivers got out to yell at each other so all us passengers took off.
8. Because of my overly clogged nose, food has lost all smell and taste, and my ears occasionally pop when I try to drink water or swallow food. Eating has become somewhat painful and a chore. Moreover, because I am doing so many random jobs in so many random places (and cities) I’ve been burning calories like a mad woman. My increase in calories burnt combined with me not making up for it with extra food means my weight has dropped, and this isn’t a good thing.
9. I was determined to get rid of my sniffles and overly plugged nose that’s been driving me mental this past week, so I got out the Vicks vapour rub at bedtime. I didn’t want to rub it on my chest or neck like recommended and then risk rubbing it all over my bedding while I slept, so I got creative.
10. Ended up rubbing it all over the inside of a cotton face mask and then wearing it to bed.
QUESTION OF THE DAY...
Any secret remodies you'd care to share?
QUOTE OF THE DAY...
Health is not simply the absence of sickness.
-- Hannah Green
2. It’s been a busy week so far and yet it’s only Wednesday.
3. Whether I’ve been running off to tutoring, flying off to Seoul for substituting, or rushing off to boxing, I feel like I honestly haven’t had any down time or a chance to breath.. not that I could breath cause of my nasty clogged nose. This week’s busy schedule is a continuation of last week’s, but thankfully it’ll all be over this upcoming Friday. I’ve never been one to be driven by cash but let’s face it, me working like a slave for two weeks and racking in more cash in these two weeks alone compared to what my former coworkers at the university make in a month is pretty sweet! Even with their overtime I killed their paycheck, so there’s no denying that it’s pretty sweet.
4. Today I worked for five totally different people for five separate pay checks… sweet.
5. In all honestly though, I much rather stay at home and do my own thing than be running around Korea like a chicken with its’ head cut off. The money is great, there’s no denying it, but I much prefer to spend my afternoons sipping on coffee with Cherry Pie and then having energy to not only train hardcore but to put towards Snickers too. I’ve only gone running two times in the last week and a half, and although I’ve been consistent with sticking to my boxing, my energy levels and performance levels at boxing have definitely been altered.
6. I tutored Tinkle Toes and then Peanut Butter and Jelly, in between which I then scooted over to see the Cheonan Trump and collect his ‘support’.
7. My substituting gig in Seoul at the community center didn’t start until 4pm but I had to start making my way there at 2pm. An hour and forty minute trek there and then an hour and forty minute trek back is brutal for sucking the energy out of you. My second wind came courticy my bus driver and a school van/bus driver who decided neither was going to yield the right away. We were just a minute or two away from the Cheonan terminal when the bus I was totally clipped the tail end of a smaller bus. Both bus drivers got out to yell at each other so all us passengers took off.
8. Because of my overly clogged nose, food has lost all smell and taste, and my ears occasionally pop when I try to drink water or swallow food. Eating has become somewhat painful and a chore. Moreover, because I am doing so many random jobs in so many random places (and cities) I’ve been burning calories like a mad woman. My increase in calories burnt combined with me not making up for it with extra food means my weight has dropped, and this isn’t a good thing.
9. I was determined to get rid of my sniffles and overly plugged nose that’s been driving me mental this past week, so I got out the Vicks vapour rub at bedtime. I didn’t want to rub it on my chest or neck like recommended and then risk rubbing it all over my bedding while I slept, so I got creative.
10. Ended up rubbing it all over the inside of a cotton face mask and then wearing it to bed.
QUESTION OF THE DAY...
Any secret remodies you'd care to share?
QUOTE OF THE DAY...
Health is not simply the absence of sickness.
-- Hannah Green
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Highlights of my Day... Tuesday, May 11
1. To call today ‘Terrific Tuesday’ would be quite the contrary to what it was. I had labeled Tuesdays as ‘Terrible Tuesdays’ on account of the mini terrors I had to deal with at the community center in Seoul but today was actually surprisingly successful.
2. Today I scored yet another student in my morning language group, bringing the club total to seven and I scored two more private tutoring students – Peanut Butter and Jelly.
3. Peanut Butter and Jelly are a young married couple just a couple of years older than I and they’re so hilariously adorable. They’re so cute together, so having class together is so refreshingly fun and interesting. They started getting tutored because next month they’ll be moving to America for an estimated two years so as happy as I am to teach them I can’t help but regret not meeting them earlier because I am going to miss them when they go.
4. My morning schedule consisted of an early morning language group meeting at 7:30am, tutoring at 9:30am with my student Twinkle Toes, and then tutoring at 11am with Peanut Butter and Jelly.
5. Everyday I stand in front of Snickers before stepping out the door and ask him “Does this outfit look good?” I trust his taste in style and he’s yet to let me walk out the door looking silly… until today that is. Today I wore a short knit black dress and threw a black suit jacket on top. I thought I looked sharp, even perhaps a bit sexy. I turned heads on the bus and had one guy stop me in the street to say hi, so I was sure I was looking good. Turns out I was looking strange. Not only was my dress inside out but it was on backwards… hahaha. I was like the modern day Kris Cross… hahaha.
6. I was determined to not let those so-called mini terrors at the community center make another Terrible Tuesday out of my much needed Terrific Tuesday, so I armed myself with a box full of choco-pies and headed to class.
7. I played bingo with my classes, putting their new unit’s vocabulary list to use. Last week the first class was brutally discouraging to teach but today, after a couple of rounds of bingo, I was convinced that if I was in love with this one little boy who had turned me totally off kids just the week before. He was so eager to win but he didn’t know really how to play bingo, so he yelled bingo out with every new vocabulary word I called and he shook with excitement. It was so super cute to watch. Him winning one of the rounds was pretty hilarious to watch. He looked like he was going to pee his pants with excitement… hahaha!!!
8. Snickers had gone off to boxing so when I reached Cheonan I too rushed off to boxing. I had about an hour to fit in boxing and weight-training so I tried to combine them by shadow boxing with weights, not quite as easy as it sounds. It made for a brutal and super intense workout and it left me pretty much drowning in my own sweat.
9. Met a famous former Korean volleyball pro star at boxing tonight. When he walked into the club literally everyone stopped and turned. I wasn’t sure as to why they all turned but I turned because he stood freakishly tall. I couldn’t help but laugh at the sight of Junior Mint doing pad work with him. They looked like David and Goliath in the ring.
10. Talks of Snickers possibly heading out to The Philippines for a fight sound encouraging.
QUESTION OF THE DAY...
What is today for you?
QUOTE OF THE DAY...
A strong positive mental attitude will create more miracles than any wonder drug.
-- Patricia Neal
2. Today I scored yet another student in my morning language group, bringing the club total to seven and I scored two more private tutoring students – Peanut Butter and Jelly.
3. Peanut Butter and Jelly are a young married couple just a couple of years older than I and they’re so hilariously adorable. They’re so cute together, so having class together is so refreshingly fun and interesting. They started getting tutored because next month they’ll be moving to America for an estimated two years so as happy as I am to teach them I can’t help but regret not meeting them earlier because I am going to miss them when they go.
4. My morning schedule consisted of an early morning language group meeting at 7:30am, tutoring at 9:30am with my student Twinkle Toes, and then tutoring at 11am with Peanut Butter and Jelly.
5. Everyday I stand in front of Snickers before stepping out the door and ask him “Does this outfit look good?” I trust his taste in style and he’s yet to let me walk out the door looking silly… until today that is. Today I wore a short knit black dress and threw a black suit jacket on top. I thought I looked sharp, even perhaps a bit sexy. I turned heads on the bus and had one guy stop me in the street to say hi, so I was sure I was looking good. Turns out I was looking strange. Not only was my dress inside out but it was on backwards… hahaha. I was like the modern day Kris Cross… hahaha.
6. I was determined to not let those so-called mini terrors at the community center make another Terrible Tuesday out of my much needed Terrific Tuesday, so I armed myself with a box full of choco-pies and headed to class.
7. I played bingo with my classes, putting their new unit’s vocabulary list to use. Last week the first class was brutally discouraging to teach but today, after a couple of rounds of bingo, I was convinced that if I was in love with this one little boy who had turned me totally off kids just the week before. He was so eager to win but he didn’t know really how to play bingo, so he yelled bingo out with every new vocabulary word I called and he shook with excitement. It was so super cute to watch. Him winning one of the rounds was pretty hilarious to watch. He looked like he was going to pee his pants with excitement… hahaha!!!
8. Snickers had gone off to boxing so when I reached Cheonan I too rushed off to boxing. I had about an hour to fit in boxing and weight-training so I tried to combine them by shadow boxing with weights, not quite as easy as it sounds. It made for a brutal and super intense workout and it left me pretty much drowning in my own sweat.
9. Met a famous former Korean volleyball pro star at boxing tonight. When he walked into the club literally everyone stopped and turned. I wasn’t sure as to why they all turned but I turned because he stood freakishly tall. I couldn’t help but laugh at the sight of Junior Mint doing pad work with him. They looked like David and Goliath in the ring.
10. Talks of Snickers possibly heading out to The Philippines for a fight sound encouraging.
QUESTION OF THE DAY...
What is today for you?
QUOTE OF THE DAY...
A strong positive mental attitude will create more miracles than any wonder drug.
-- Patricia Neal
Monday, May 10, 2010
Highlights of my Day... Monday, May 10
1. I had purposely waited until I was on the bus ride out to my sub job in Seoul to call and wish my mother a Happy Mother’s Day. I had already doubted that I’d get to talk to her because of her being so weak and I had anticipated talking to my father but I hadn’t prepared myself for what he would tell me. Having said this though, my gut told me there’d be bad news, hence why I waited till I was on the bus to call. I’m extra sensitive with issues regarding my family back in Canada so I needed to stay calm, cool, and collective. The bus posed the best place to call. It was a public place where I couldn’t just break down, where people would oversee my call, and I’d have no choice but to retain my composer.
2. As for what he told me regarding my mom, it wasn’t good. It wasn’t good at all, in fact, it was terrible. News consisted of unspotted-until-so-late pnenomia, a twisted intestine, and immediate surgery. It’s just one thing after another and I just don’t know how much longer or how much more she can take, or any of us for that matter. And to think I thought the cancer part of my mom’s ordeal was the worst part.
3. I know everything happens for a reason but I’m definitely struggling to find that reason. My mom being diagnosed with cancer and then miraculously being cured definitely shook up and rejenorated our own beliefs in God. In Snickers’ case it opened his mind to religion, something he had sworn off before. If you were to ask Snickers how my mom was cured of cancer he’d say “because of God”, something that not too long ago he would have rolled his eyes at. But as for all this other nonsense – because that’s exactly what it is – I just can’t justify why it’s happening, more importantly why it’s happening to my mother of all people. Those who know my parents know that they are both very firm in their beliefs about God and how they live. So if things happen for a reason and life lessons are sometimes hard lessons we have to learn, then when the heck is this lesson going to be over?! It’s gone to the extreme, I mean like how many body parts is he (God) going to tamper with and how many injuries, complications, and illnesses is he going to bring upon her before we all lose sight of the lesson and just start hating the teacher?! Maybe what’s meant to be learned in this lesson is so beyond our level that we don’t even stand a chance at grasping it, so the lesson will be lost and pointless. It’s like expecting an elementary student to do a university level algebra question – ridiculous!!!
4. I ended the conversation with my father by telling him to tell Mama Bere that I will be in Canada in 87 days, “and she has to meet Snickers, so tell her she better be there to hug him at the airport or else…” I added. In all honestly, there’s not a day that has gone by this past year that I haven’t feared showing up too late to see her and I fear now that maybe she won’t be able to pull through and hold on for 87 more days.
5. Sitting on the bus beside an overly curious university student who appeared to have no understanding of my phone call but was nonetheless curious, added extra pressure on me to not burst into tears. I did cry however, but it wasn’t until my bus ride home when I sat in the dark and could hide my face that my mind wandered back to my morning conversation and tears appeared.
6. As for what I actually did today, besides try to digest the new news I got from Papa Bere, I worked at the community center in Seoul and had a job interview.
7. My job interview was with Samsung and it was for an in-house consultant. Basically, the job description included sitting in on mock meetings in English and giving them constructive feedback about their English grammar and whatnot, and holding office hours so that Samsung employees could meet with me to discuss any English-related questions with reference to emails, reports or etc. Initially I was interested in the job posting because it posed a different kind of profession that I’ve never taken on and with it being connected to Samsung, a trusted and solid company, I viewed it as a safe position. Having said all this though, let it be known I never would have gone for the interview had they been more honest about the pay as supposed to leaving it open for misinterpretation. They advertised $40 an hour but, as it turned out, that was only for part-time work like morning one hour tutoring.
8. I went into my Samsung interview super nervous but eager and excited to show them my best and hook them. Well, I hooked them, I’m sure of that but when they filled me in on the pay I wanted nothing more than to let them take the bait and leave, as in leave me alone. Getting a wide variety of job opportunities and experiences under my belt interests me but being asked to go from my usual rate of $50 an hour to just under $19 does nothing for my interest level besides kill it.
9. The students at the community center would pretty good today, no big problems beyond the children being typical children. And for the record, it’s not that I don’t like children – I do like children – I don’t like parents who don’t discipline or teach their children manners and instead send them off to school for us teachers to deal with.
10. The hour and forty-minute trek back to Ggum Guum in Cheonan gave my mind plenty of time and plenty of chances to revert back to the phone conversation I had with my father and that’s exactly what happened. By the time I stepped in the door at Ggum Guum my head was drowning in the bad news. Snickers played the role of my hero perfectly and managed to get me smiling again.
QUESTION OF THE DAY...
What's the lesson playing out in your life these days?
QUOTE OF THE DAY...
Life is like playing a violin in public and learning the instrument as one goes on.
Samuel Butler
2. As for what he told me regarding my mom, it wasn’t good. It wasn’t good at all, in fact, it was terrible. News consisted of unspotted-until-so-late pnenomia, a twisted intestine, and immediate surgery. It’s just one thing after another and I just don’t know how much longer or how much more she can take, or any of us for that matter. And to think I thought the cancer part of my mom’s ordeal was the worst part.
3. I know everything happens for a reason but I’m definitely struggling to find that reason. My mom being diagnosed with cancer and then miraculously being cured definitely shook up and rejenorated our own beliefs in God. In Snickers’ case it opened his mind to religion, something he had sworn off before. If you were to ask Snickers how my mom was cured of cancer he’d say “because of God”, something that not too long ago he would have rolled his eyes at. But as for all this other nonsense – because that’s exactly what it is – I just can’t justify why it’s happening, more importantly why it’s happening to my mother of all people. Those who know my parents know that they are both very firm in their beliefs about God and how they live. So if things happen for a reason and life lessons are sometimes hard lessons we have to learn, then when the heck is this lesson going to be over?! It’s gone to the extreme, I mean like how many body parts is he (God) going to tamper with and how many injuries, complications, and illnesses is he going to bring upon her before we all lose sight of the lesson and just start hating the teacher?! Maybe what’s meant to be learned in this lesson is so beyond our level that we don’t even stand a chance at grasping it, so the lesson will be lost and pointless. It’s like expecting an elementary student to do a university level algebra question – ridiculous!!!
4. I ended the conversation with my father by telling him to tell Mama Bere that I will be in Canada in 87 days, “and she has to meet Snickers, so tell her she better be there to hug him at the airport or else…” I added. In all honestly, there’s not a day that has gone by this past year that I haven’t feared showing up too late to see her and I fear now that maybe she won’t be able to pull through and hold on for 87 more days.
5. Sitting on the bus beside an overly curious university student who appeared to have no understanding of my phone call but was nonetheless curious, added extra pressure on me to not burst into tears. I did cry however, but it wasn’t until my bus ride home when I sat in the dark and could hide my face that my mind wandered back to my morning conversation and tears appeared.
6. As for what I actually did today, besides try to digest the new news I got from Papa Bere, I worked at the community center in Seoul and had a job interview.
7. My job interview was with Samsung and it was for an in-house consultant. Basically, the job description included sitting in on mock meetings in English and giving them constructive feedback about their English grammar and whatnot, and holding office hours so that Samsung employees could meet with me to discuss any English-related questions with reference to emails, reports or etc. Initially I was interested in the job posting because it posed a different kind of profession that I’ve never taken on and with it being connected to Samsung, a trusted and solid company, I viewed it as a safe position. Having said all this though, let it be known I never would have gone for the interview had they been more honest about the pay as supposed to leaving it open for misinterpretation. They advertised $40 an hour but, as it turned out, that was only for part-time work like morning one hour tutoring.
8. I went into my Samsung interview super nervous but eager and excited to show them my best and hook them. Well, I hooked them, I’m sure of that but when they filled me in on the pay I wanted nothing more than to let them take the bait and leave, as in leave me alone. Getting a wide variety of job opportunities and experiences under my belt interests me but being asked to go from my usual rate of $50 an hour to just under $19 does nothing for my interest level besides kill it.
9. The students at the community center would pretty good today, no big problems beyond the children being typical children. And for the record, it’s not that I don’t like children – I do like children – I don’t like parents who don’t discipline or teach their children manners and instead send them off to school for us teachers to deal with.
10. The hour and forty-minute trek back to Ggum Guum in Cheonan gave my mind plenty of time and plenty of chances to revert back to the phone conversation I had with my father and that’s exactly what happened. By the time I stepped in the door at Ggum Guum my head was drowning in the bad news. Snickers played the role of my hero perfectly and managed to get me smiling again.
QUESTION OF THE DAY...
What's the lesson playing out in your life these days?
QUOTE OF THE DAY...
Life is like playing a violin in public and learning the instrument as one goes on.
Samuel Butler
Sunday, May 09, 2010
The Kim Family
The two beautiful twins that are polar opposites -- my nephews.
My old fashion father-in-law that loves traditional clothes and natural medicine his grandfathers' made but who sports quite a modernized mind --K-Gere.
My mother-in-law who's stands about a head smaller than me -- Mama Kim.
My sisters-in-law who are just about as opposite as my nephews but are equally sweet. [Note, my sister-in-laws hubby had to work so there's no photo of him]
And of course you know who these people are. On the left is Korea's finest -- Snickers. And on the right is the woman who adores him -- me.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)