Jokes

I told my professor I has Shingles... minutes later this appeared on my desk....

FML!

I got another round of drugs...

I have Shingles, which I haven't figured out if I got it while in South Korea or when I came back since it appeared last wednesday. I dont care, I have Shingles. (Adult Chicken Pox).

I forked out 229.34 for Valtrex.

FML.

Oh but I guess the funny part is that I did get some Vicodin.

Jesus.

Loud, very loud keys.

Last Night, She Said..

I took this picture in the Love Park in Lima, Peru in 2006.


When we get bored in the station, we play with beach balls.

Dusk

Darkness

Overwhelming fear. Broken. Wonder.

Music...

Music make you lose control,
Music make you lose control...

I’ve got a cute face
Chubby waist
Thick legs in shape
Rump shakin’ both ways
Make you do a double take
Planet rocka show stoppa
Flo’ proppa head knocka
Beat styla tail droppa
Do ma thang muthafuckas - Missy Elliot.

I listened to cds today. Alot of crappy ones, might I add.
First day back at school and I hit the ground running.
 I have a job interview Thursday at David's Bridal. I'm pretty stoked.
 I went to Hagerstown with Sammi and we got Rita's Italian Ice,
then I stopped by 116 and saw Mike, Travis, and Paulie.
I went to school, and listened to more music. I love it.

Music... it's centers  me.

Kamsamnida

For everything.

Two Sundays

This is the woman's bathroom in Dunkin Donuts. I knew Korea wasn't completely Americanized.

Saturday we watched episodes of The Simpsons, Office, and CSI. I slept til like about noon then I just layed like a vegetable. Then eventually when the hot water decided to kick in, I showered, and we went to a place called a Meat Buffet. You cook the meat yourself on the table in front of you. Ran into the coworkers, went to Dunkin' Donuts then met up with them at another bar that's around the corner from Chris' apt, and then called it a night by like midnight, if that, I think? I fell asleep to Simpsons, and woke up at 7:30am to get up to shower, and pack and begin my longest trek home, which I'm currently in the middle of doing. We got the taxi, who didnt understand where we were going, then made it to the bus station which then the bus ride was about 3 hours long and we stopped a few times. I got to the airport, said my goodbye and started through the immigration gates.

I walked away from this with a very clean frame of mind. I know that I am probably the most confusing and complicated person. I like to travel, it jolts my brain. Anyway, I just can't wait to get on with the rest of my life. It hit me as I was laying in bed, that I am going to get a job and then I'm going to start a new chapter in my life. I got really excited at the idea of something 'new' for once, more so than buying a plane ticket! I am going to get a job, and then I am going to get my own place, and then I'm going to get a dog, well hopefully... I might have to settle with bringing my lack of a cat, and neurotic spaz of a dog, but that's ok. I figure yeah those are semi-big goals but I feel they are critical and important stepping stones on my path to figuring out what I want from life, or just figuring out what I want to do in general. Ya know?

So my flight was almost full, I was ever so lucky to not have anyone sit down next to me so I slept the whole flight. I'm still out of it though since I just readjusted to Korean time and now I'm back to Eastern time. My body has NO idea what time it really is.

My battery is about to die, I must find a plug...

Okay, I'm back..

I am sitting next to a cold, cement column. I'm starting to get cold. It's only 50+ degrees here in sunny California, I dont know why I expected it to be warmer. As I sit here, I still see people from the flight I was on this morning. Another sidenote: I felt weird using US dollars earlier when I paid for a drink. I wasn't even gone that long to feel weird. I also saw that you can get 15 pesos to the dollar now. My homeland is seeing hard times I guess. Atleast it'll be cheap to go in the summer, more so than usual I guess.

We landed and the flight attendant says to us " It is 10:15am, Sunday March 22nd....all over again". I laughed. I'm getting some dejavu. So far, I much more enjoyed my first sunday. The second sunday has left much to be desired. Though about this time, I was walking through security, trying to find some food, and finding the internet that was really shotty by the way.

I read part of Marley and Me, mostly I skipped to the back where they did an interview with the author. His best advice was to keep a journal. I can't for the life of me regularly keep a journal. I dont know why, I just forget to write things down. I'll be fine for the first few days I decide I'm going to keep one, and then I forget, or I dont have time. I have a million journals, well what feels like anyway. I mean I got them all the time growing up, I tried keep diaries, I've got one I attempted to have in like 5th grade, then I picked it back up in 8th, then the next thing I had was LiveJournal, pre-facebook and every other social network site. I kept that for about two years. And, now we arrive to here. Admittedly I hated writing with a furious passion in the beginning of college, mostly because it was painfully hard getting words out on paper that made sense. Now, you can't really get me to shut up sometimes.

I passed an express spa type of place, I am debating on whether or not to give in and get a massage. I question it only because it is the airport and they mark everything up price wise. I might sit here a little bit longer. I look at my poor feet and they really need a good coat of nail polish and a rub. It's been winter so I can get away with little to no maintenance...

I think I'm done rambling on. There's a BK Lounge... I might have to give in to...but for some reason spicy noodles seem so much better right now, odd.

Party til the break of dawn

So I got to go out to one of the bars that Chris and his coworkers visit often which is geared towards foreigners. It's called Santa's, it's named after Santa Claus... I'm not sure why that is tho. I had a good time talking to his friends. On the way there, I got to experience a native korean driving, holy shit! I was hugging my seatbealt, very tightly. I drank alot of Cass which is the Korean beer, it was 2 for 1 night for girls. I came home around 5am, and now its about 9:20am... I'm going to sleep well on the plane ride home.

Lisa, Jill, Chris, Sunny.

Travel

I love to travel. It comes second nature behind breathing. I have realized though I have become a little bit of a "scare-dy cat" though. Maybe I'm just super stressed out that I can't even get travel to unwind me. Today I was watching these kids in the park play and they are so happy and carefree. The mom's are so cute with them. I saw a million bajillion little korean babies walking around. I got alot of stares too. No wonder why everyone says jokingly to bring back a baby.

Part of me yearns for childhoold simplicity and happiness, the road I'm on, is a winding one that I'm not sure is leading me to where I want to be. I want to be whole and complete but I can't help but say that I am missing something. And, what's more is that I feel like it's something very obvious.

Like always, when I am abroad I do my best thinking. I have decided that I want to get back into my days of ju-jitsu, I need excersize and an outlet. Music has wiggled its way back into my life via Radio which doesnt surprise me at all. I was half-expecting music to come back to me. Writing came back a year ago, it all just comes back, the natural simplicities. Life is nuts that way.

I've been a disappointment to a lot, but mostly just to myself. I say I'll do something and more often than not I do not follow through. I've been failing myself constantly and it's just not something I want to be. I'm graduating in two months. I have to get my act together, I'm a full-fledged adult, I'll be 23 in July. Ew... old. haha. I remember visiting my sister when I was 16 and she was 26 and thinking holy cow that's old. ( I love you B, if you're reading this! :})

I'm also thinking I'm like getting ill with something. I have no appetite and my feet and toes go numb randomly... it's most likely nothing but I feel that it's more like a sign to get up and do something, to change my life, because I'm only getting older and I"m only getting a day closer to my death bed...how morbid.

Life is also full of doors, opening and closing. I would like to keep every door open if I could. I know that that isn't always possible. I am not wonder woman, I can't keep everything in order. I dont know if that makes any sense? I dont know who is even reading this? I probably have some really creepy 45 year old guy reading this with my luck! I hope you're enjoying the words I string together, whoever you are that reads this.

I want to play with penguins in Antarctica. I want to write a book. And, I think life is just plain nuts [right now]. I am okay with life, I feel like I've hit a rough patch, and the sun's gone away for a little bit, regardless I know I'll be okay and I'll bounce back soon enough.

Potato Pizza

I ended up taking a sleep day for myself. It was pretty uneventful. I guess I just needed the rest. I got some pizza, and apparently here, it's common to have half a potato on your pizza slice. I dont know what I"m going to do today. Chris has a three hour break, maybe we'll do something tonight, more to come later.

Dinner

Went out last night to this place called "fish & grill" apparently it's one of Chris' favorite resturants. I tried some omelette thing that had bacon and ketchup. I also had a bite of shrimp. They also ordered what looked like whole fried crabs, kinda like kalamarhi (sp?). I didnt eat that though, my stomach wasn't up for the challenge. I also tried soju which was mixed with pomegrante juice, and I tried Cass which is Korean beer.... eehh... not the best beer, lol. I think I've had worse though!? I got to hear more "war stories" about students. I also met the rest of Chris' friends. All in all, it was a good time and they look like a fun crowd. Yay for him, for having that. Having people who make your time enjoyable while in a foriegn country can make all the difference in the general experience.

I'm going to try to brave a taxi today... more on that later.

What is the word for out of shape in Korean?!

The tunnel I went through to get to the trail.

Random composte pile I passed while walking up to the trail. I felt like I was walking in someone's backyard the whole time. Another side note, I remember now that everything is a mad dash in the Asian world. And standing to the side to let people like the elderly to walk by is like blinking, no one cares.

So last night, we went out to a bar around the corner and met up with Ryan and Jillian. The bar was alright, a little different I guess, the bartender sat down with us at first which was a little weird. We each had a beer, I listened to "war" stories about the daily ins and outs of classroom and kids. Reminds me of the stories I have of being a camp counselor. After drinks, we got something, and I dont know the spelling, but it's called "cheesy dongas" and kimbop, and some soup. It was pretty good, I ate mostly the cheesy stuff which was cheese fried pork. I fell asleep to Simpsons again.

This morning, I got outside and I went hiking on a nearby trail about 10 minutes away. I am SOOOOOOOOOOO terribly out of shape. I should weight about a million pounds, its disgusting. I had old ladies passing me up, dressed in more clothes, NOT breaking a sweat. I think I managed to get pretty far up but after not really eating breakfast, and only having a mini-sized bottle of water, I gave in to my belly that was growling at me.

I got the best stuffed waffle ever. I walked by the stand yesterday and told myself tomorrow I'll try it. Oh gees, I can't believe I didnt get one yesterday. I might go back later and see if they're still there to get another. It had this really good strawberry filling. Yum! This temple looking thing, is a monuement I found in one the parks near Chris' apt. It's dedicated to a girl who's husband died when she was 22, left her home town and then went to live with her in-law's. She became known as one of the best scholars Korea has seen and has this temple house dedicated to her. Pretty cool. I missed the tour opportunity. I'm gonna try to do that tomorrow. I still need to figure out how to ask for the train station, and if there's a specific one that I should ask for? We shall see. I walked around some more after inhaling said waffle goodness and found a few churchs, mostly baptist. I found more parks, I also found a convienence store got some chips, powerade in a can, and a protien bar (which was disgusting!). I walked around even more and now I'm back. I think I'm going to have to find something else to do for the rest of the afternoon, I dont know if I'm actually up for a nap this afternoon like I have been the last few days.

I know I do need to shower because I smell something ripe, haha, until next time, PEACE!

Seonsaengnim

I ended up turning on the heated floors and then taking a long nap. I watched some Gossip Girl and some other American shows on the television then I passed out til Chris came home at about 10. He and I then we went to dinner and met up with some of his coworkers. This is also where I mention moment number three with this Grant guy( he was there with some of his friends at the same restaurant). I just think once again, I'm in a city with millions of people and I've crossed pathes with this one person three times.

We went to a place around the corner, where we sat on the floor on little mats. It wasn't so comfortable for me considering I have absolutely no padding whatsoever in my butt. The food though was really good, it was my first real Korean meal I'd say. It had cabbage, sweet potatos, red pasta, chicken, and cheese. After we ate most of that then, one of the guys ordered noodles which were really good but I only have a few bites. I was full, my appetite still isn't up to par. Afterwards, we came back and I went to sleep after a few episodes of the Simpons.

I didnt sleep well so I woke up at about 7 or so. I'm not sure why I can't get myself to adjust to sleeping better since I'm on break this should come naturally, who knows. Chris and I went to Dunkin Donuts, had bagels and cream cheese, and I enjoyed my organic orange juice with ice. I dont normally like my oj to be really cold but for some reason ice just sound really good lately. We then came back and watched tv til he left for work. We talked about things to do today. I was going to go on a bus tour of the city but it was located at the train station and since I couldn't figure out from the phrase book how to ask to get to the train station I scrapped that, yes, I gave in to not knowing. My next plan was that I was going to go hiking but my legs are sore from walking the last two days all over the city, so I decided maybe I'll save that for tomorrow but I'm hoping the weather holds out with the sun just another day. I then decided okay so maybe I'll find the subway and ride that around because there are some cool things located near the subway stations but I gave up for whatever reason. I can't find where this part of the city is located on the map, and I didnt pay attention to when Chris pointed it out, so I'll just have to wait and ask him when he gets home, so tomorrow I'll defnitely get myself out to do some of the touristy and historical stuff.

I did however walk around town a little bit. I tried to get myself to go to a massage spa place which I've heard is pretty good for around here but I got freaked out and went back down the elevator. I'm such a wuss! Instead I went to Paris Baguette got some lunch, a really good pizza thing and some honey natu natu juice and parked myself in the park and people watched, I also read. I enjoyed the sun on my face and I watched the kids run around all afternoon. I also got called "seonsaegnim" which means teacher. I remembered that from last night's conversation at dinner, one of the teacher Chris works with said that was the proper name for teacher. While I was walking around in the Happy Zone aka the mall, a little looked at me and then her mom and said I guess something along the lines of "look there's a teacher" in Korean. I chuckled, smiled, and waved at her. She blushed.

You know, I find it really interesting being here. I spent this afternoon people watching and I would say Korea is an asian version of the US. Yeah, so there are a lot of differences but it's really pleasant here. I tried to say hello, and that worked once or twice. I even managed a thank you. I stumble upon the words tho, it just seems so long to say "anneyonghasayo" for hello. It's a tongue twister. I also find myself repeating the words for thank you and hello to myself as I walk down the streets hoping that I'll remember which one is which when the opprotunity arises.

I finished the book I was reading, called "Drink, Play, Fuck" it's the male version of "Eat, Pray, Love". I found a really good quote from that book that more or less applies to my life at the moment, it is..."If you dont unwind and just veg out with a beer and swim-up blackjack table now and then, you'll make yourself nuts. And, if you're nuts, you'll make the wrong decisions about the big stuff." I also seem to find books that apply to my life as its happening, no matter if I buy the book years ago and just now pick it up to read or if I bought the book last week. I also had a little Korean girl wiggle her way next to me on the bench I was sitting on. Apparently, towards the end of my book reading, school had let out so all the mom's were there with their kids, and this little darling smiled at me and her mom I'm sure was telling her not to be rude or something like that, and I just smiled and laughed. Kids bring me such joy, their simplicity is amazing.

I'm back at the apartment now. I took more pictures to try and add to my posts, hopefully i'll get those up very soon before the end of the week. I'm interested to see where dinner is tonight. I'm sure it'll be an adventure either way.

Annyeonghaseyo

So, Chris tried teaching me like two things in Korean, Hello and Thank You... sadly neither phrase has stuck in my brain. I'm a little too scared still to try and say either, so I stick to bowing my head and smiling which seems to be doing the trick.

Last night, Chris and I got some chicken at a resturant around the block. I thought I was hungrier than it turned out. It was spicy and sweet, and interesting combination of both, but I just couldn't make myself eat. We came back, and I promptly passed in and out of sleep to the Simpsons. I finally decided to get off the floor and move into the bed at like midnight, the floor being heated makes it rather comfortable to sleep on. It feels good on my back too.

I got up this morning probably around 8? I didnt sleep so well, I had some bad dreams that kept me from sleeping peacefully. I got up, we visited his school and walked around the city some more with Chris then we came back, watched Sex and the City til he left for work. I have bumped into a few of his coworkers, and another guy Grant who he knows because he works at another school a few buildings over. So far, everyone seems to be very nice, course I've literally only had a five second hello with each, haha. I got up and made myself get out of the apartment today. I walked around, trying to find Dunkin' Donuts but I got lost, my internal compass has failed me a little bit. I ended up by Paris Baguette when I thought I was near DD. I then ended up finding my way back to DD and bumped into Grant again. Of the millions of people in this city, I run into him again, it was one of those serendipitous moments of life. I bought a berry donut, and some oj and had a small and light breakfast. I started to read one of the books I brought with me called "The Lost Recipe for Happiness". It's not bad, I'm just on the first chapter though. I think I might do the DD thing in the morning and do some reading for the rest of the time that I am here. I have to kill another 6 or 7 hours til Chris gets off work. I am avoiding homework like it's the plague at the moment. I need a break from school! I'd like a break from life in general but I'm pretty sure that's not doable.

I think the best part of the day so far was the shower. I was a little bit afraid that the water pressure was going to be bad and I was going to freeze because the floor is tile that doesnt warm up like I assumed it would. I also find that the dance of death I do with the electrical wires, and washer machine in the bathroom/shower to be rather interesting, keeps me on my toes if nothing else.

I'm not homesick. This is the first time I've flown out of the country to not miss anything about home, immediately anyway. I might miss my bed a little bit. I've escaped into my element, into my reality, into relaxation. I can't wait to actually start filmming and documenting the traveling I do, for a career.

I also stumbled upon some shops, I had a lot kids wave and say hello to me, along with a few adults. I changed my money over to Korean Won this morning and the bank greeter told me Chris was handsome, haha. I enjoy the basic English conversations. There's just something about simplicity that intrigues me, but not fully. I'm in the process of losing myself to find myself.

Greetings from the other side of the world

I got on the plane to head to Seoul, South Korea at 1:30 EST from Washington D.C. 13 hours, and a short technical delay at the gate later I was arriving in Narita International Airport in Tokyo, Japan. It was my layover to my flight to Icheon International Airport in Seoul, South Korea. I was quite nervous because of the news leading up to my departure about North Korea threating to launch missiles at commercial planes, however I learned that apparently this is a yearly thing that occurs, and that it was not a really big threat after a few days. I got a seat in the exit row of the plane, which was okay, although I willl admit I was a little nervous when people would lean on the bottom part of the door, like it was going to be some crazy Hollywood movie and the door would open, sucking me out and throwing me out to the wild, haha. The first lunch we had was some kind of chicken and rice concoction that I really didnt care for. I ended up sitting next to some rich CEO who is on his way to build a factory in Thailand. That's great, except he literally took up my arm rest and made it almost impossible to sleep. I should invest in some tylenol pm or something for the flight home. Later on about half way into the flight, I had some noodles which I really liked, and then at the end before landing, we had another lunch, and I had pasta with red sauce. Amazingly enough, I sat the majority of the flight. I watched about five different movies, sometimes catching only the end of a movie, or just the beginning.

In Narita, I didnt pass through Customs so I didnt get to get a stamp in my passport, I did get pictures so I guess that'll have to do, and I have the memory of being in Japan for an hour. I did get sushi, I got a California roll, it cost 13 bucks but it was 10 pieces of the best, freshest sushi I've ever had. I also found a store in which I got a few keychains, some green tea latte instant mix, and some green tea KitKats. I boarded my flight to Seoul, only two hours flying time which I fell asleep for most of it. I woke up about 15 minutes before landing. It took about another 30 minutes to get through the airport and through Customs before I actually got to meet Chris on the other end. I saw his face and felt absolutely relieved, I finally got to where I was going, and saw who I came to see. I was washed over with relief. We got our tickets for the bus ride back to Daejeon, about two hours or so south of where we were. It was a nice, and fast trip back, apparently we shaved off a good 30 minutes or so.

I had some difficulty falling asleep. I finally fell asleep probably about 4am. The bed was not comfortable (yes, I know you're reading this Chris, haha). I think I'll try the floor before I leave at some point. It's heated, which kinda blows my mind a little bit. I mean I know to expect different things for different cultures but still, how cool? haha, okay so I'm a little bit nerdy.

We walked to Dunkin' Donuts for tea and coffee then after we hit up a bakery called Paris Baguette, afterward, Chris and I walked up to a trail, so maybe this week I'll tackle some sightseeing while he's at work. We went to another part of the city and walked around, just taking in the sites. The taxis drive like I expected, point a to point b, everything seems to be rather easy to get to. I've been just observing more or less, not really speaking. I met one of the guys Chris knows through work friends.

I'm not sure what's instore for tonight, but as soon as I can, I'll add pictures to this post to make it better to see what I'm talking about.

Ihop with Katy

Mooch

Boof!

Three Onions

Great Grand Big's Birthday!

au natural, well sorta.

Dear Blog,

I owe you pictures.

-Me