Tales from the Road of Life

Things that make me go...hmm...

2010-10-03T12:58:00.001-04:00

So in an effort to continuously educate myself, I looked up the "Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938" which is Act that first establishes Federal Minimum wage. I thought this paragraph for why Congress decided to pass such an Act was interesting...

The Congress finds that the existence, in industries engaged in commerce or in the production of goods for commerce, of labor conditions detrimental to the maintenance of the minimum standard of living necessary for health, efficiency, and general well-being of workers

From Investopedia:

What Does Standard Of Living Mean?
The level of wealth, comfort, material goods and necessities available to a certain socioeconomic class in a certain geographic area. The standard of living includes factors such as income, quality and availability of employment, class disparity, poverty rate, quality and affordability of housing, hours of work required to purchase necessities, gross domestic product, inflation rate, number of vacation days per year, affordable (or free) access to quality healthcare, quality and availability of education, life expectancy, incidence of disease, cost of goods and services, infrastructure, national economic growth, economic and political stability, political and religious freedom, environmental quality, climate and safety. The standard of living is closely related to quality of life.

From Investopedia again:

What Does Living Wage Mean?
A theoretical wage level that allows the earner to afford adequate shelter, food and the other necessities of life. The living wage should be substantial enough to ensure that no more than 30% of it needs to be spent on housing. The goal of the living wage is to allow employees to earn enough income for a satisfactory standard of living.

So back to the Department of Labor's website about Minimum Wage:

The federal minimum wage is $7.25 per hour effective July 24, 2009. Many states also have minimum wage laws.

So simple math here: $7.25/hr x 40hr/week x 52 weeks/year = $15,080 per year before taxes

So using the Living Wage Calculator provided by Pennsylvania State University, I plugged in a couple of locations to see what it costs to actually LIVE in these places and you can go to their website to see where they got their numbers. (Note: Based on minimum estimates for a low wage family, not to maintain a middle class family):

Bristol, TN: One Adult = $7.12, One Adult & One Child = $14.69

Virginia Beach, VA: One Adult = $9.30, One Adult & One Child = $16.93

Atlanta, GA: One Adult = $9.04, One Adult & One Child = $16.48

Boston, MA: One Adult = $12.17, One Adult & One Child = $20.75, Minimum Wage in Boston is $8/hr

Leavenworth, KS: One Adult=$8.56, One Adult & One Child = $16.12

Pine Ridge Reservation, SD: One Adult=$6.28, One Adult & One Child = $12.80

Los Angeles, CA: One Adult =$11.20, One Adult & One Child - $19.96, Minimum Wage in CA is $8/hr

San Francisco, CA: One Adult=$12.65, One Adult & One Child - $21.82, Minimum Wage in SF is $9.79

Now, I just picked a couple of places to get an idea for the feel for the US overall, and basically, in most places if you are making minimum wage, you better be able to live with someone else who can share the expenses of living. If you're a single parent earning minimum wage, forget it, you're just screwed in ALL scenarios, but you MIGHT be able to get by with working 2 to 3 minimum wage jobs. But the fact that you ARE working, well, you don't qualify for any help. You better get crackin'!

Now my father said to me that Minimum wage is pretty much only for people starting out and teenagers and that through time and skills that they would get salary increases.

I think that's a bunch of crap, as I personally know many people who have been loyal workers who are still making minimum wage. In fact, my closest friend has been working for the same employer for over 3 years and makes minimum wage even though he depends totally on her to run his business. But, ok, let's say well it's due to working for a small business to be reasonable, but I'm going to double check with some of the folks that I know who work for a fast food chain to see what they're making.

So some questions that I like to ask people...

-If a company makes MILLIONS of dollars in Profit, and their lowest "unskilled" worker makes less than a living wage, do you find that morally acceptable?

-What about million dollar bonuses for Upper Management, instead?

Now the typical answer I get from people are that CEO's "DESERVE" their million dollar bonuses. And when I ask them a follow up questions, "So you're saying that the people who work for them DON'T DESERVE to make a living wage?" they usually change the subject or walk away or say "You just don't understand."

As an engineer, I like things SIMPLE, cut away all the fat and give me the essential information. So this is what I see:

Minimum Wage of $7.25/hr

Average Living Wage based on the 5 cities above that were using $7.25/hr as their minimum wage standard: $8.06/hr

Person considered "wealthy" in the US (Annual income $250,000+)=$120.19+/hr

Hmm...what would a morally responsible company do?

Well, let us get a quote straight from one CEO's mouth...

"My moral responsibility is to protect and grow the investment of shareholders." - T.J. Rogers, CEO of Cypress Semiconductor in the article "Why CEOs Can't Stand Obama."

Apparently, it's true, I really don't understand.

Run for Congo Women

2010-09-30T22:15:00.001-04:00

The other day, I was listening to NPR's show On Point, and they had a show called, "Saving Women in Congo." I was absolutely inspired by Lisa Shannon, who was so motivated to help the women of Congo, that she created a fundraising program called "Running for Congo Women" which raises money for a wonderful organization called, "Women for Women International."

What I really liked was the fact that she combined her passion, Running, with her passion to help the women of Congo. Now that's something I can fully and whole heartedly support, a person using their passions to make the world around them a better place.

I checked the website and the closest event is in Conover, NC, on November 6th. I'm signed up to walk and am looking for donations. I picked a target goal of $360 because that would support 1 woman for 1 year to get medical attention, psychological help, food and training to help EMPOWER her and her family. Let them know that there are people out there who care about her and want her to succeed.

So far, I have $30 raised and I'm hoping that there will be others out there who will feel empowered to walk with me or donate money to help the women. Clicking on the banner below will take you to my fundraiser page and from there you can join the team as well if you are in the area. We would love to have you!

For more information about what is going on in Congo, here is a video clip from PBS's Newshour.

The Story of Generose is who I will share here but there are many more women's stories you can read at Lisa Shannon's website:

Generose has lived through some of the worst violence I ever heard about. As part of an attack, a militia cut off her leg. But when I met her, I noticed she had painted the toenails on her prosthetic leg! This woman is all spirit and heart. She has built a business which makes $70/ month and two employees in an area where most families are living off of $20/ month. She's sending her kids to school, owns her own home, and lives in a safe neighborhood. One of the most resilient women I've ever met!

I had read in an article was that Generose was raped by the militia, who then cut her leg off and forced her children to eat her leg. Her 8 year old son refused and they murdered him in front of her.

That is what the media doesn't tell you. My heart cries to think of all the women being tortured and who are suffering and I just wonder, what can I do? And then I think of Lisa and a story that I heard once:

There was a terrible storm on the coast that washed millions of starfish onto the beach. A man was watching this other man who was walking along the beach throwing the starfish back into the ocean. The guy walks up to the other guy and ask him, "Why bother? There's millions of starfish and only one of you, it's not going to matter." The other guy picked up a starfish and threw it back into the ocean, "It mattered to that starfish."

Woah it's been a year already?

2010-09-30T18:58:00.003-04:00

Talk about a wild little ride this year has been!

Yes, I've not posted my pictures and what not of my Dalai Lama Trip, but on the other hand, I have given a talk about it to the local Metaphysical Group. Soooo...I guess I can say "Stay Tuned..."

Last year, I got the joy of my life, little Min-Jee (민지), which is Korean for "Clever Wisdom" and doesn't she look a bit like Yoda? haha

We figure that she's roughly 3 years old and she's definitely got Chihuahua in her but not sure what the other one is...doxie? I'm thinking maybe a Chiweenie, but no way of really knowing. She's REALLY smart though and really lazy too. ha She makes me giggle every morning when I'm trying to get her to get out of bed, she's worse than I am, which is saying something! ha

I guess the saying is true, you didn't rescue the dog, the dog rescued you. ;o)

I'm getting back into it and will write more in the next few days. Yippie!

The Greater Good Network

2009-11-25T11:40:00.003-05:00

I had originally wrote this as an e-mail to my friends and I just thought it was appropriate to share with those who also read my blog. -J

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Just thought I would let you all know about the Greater Good Network when you're considering your Christmas Shopping. By making a purchase at one of their websites, you are not only purchasing a gift for someone, but you are also helping the world.

Purchases made at the Hunger Site will contribute cups of food to help feed people, not only throughout the world, but here in the United States as well.

Purchases made at the Breast Cancer Site will contribute a portion of your purchase to help pay for a mammogram.

Purchases made at the Child Health Site will contribute money for provide health care for a child.

Purchases made at the Literacy Site will contribute money to provide books for children.

Purchases made at the Rainforest Site will contribute money to purchase Rainforest land and for its preservation of the land and also to help other wildlife preservation.

Purchases made at the Animal Rescue Site contributes money to help Animal Shelters with food and supplies, not only here in the US but in other parts of the world.

What I do is try to buy an item in each store (by clicking on the above tabs) in the area that I know that the gift recipient is interested in. So I would buy something for a Pet Lover at the Rescue Site, and then buy something else for a friend who is supporter of Breast Cancer from the Breast Cancer Site.

And I also try to buy from "Global Girlfriend" which in addition to supporting the various charities, they also provide women in 3rd world countries an opportunity to make products to help EMPOWER women by giving them a chance at having Financial Stability.

So in the card that I give to people with the present, I also list all the things that their particular gift has provided to the world. Like, "Your gift provided 14 cups of food to starving people, and gave a rape survivor a chance to gain back her dignity." I just feel like it's a feel good way to spread the joy and to remind people how really connected we are to people in the world through indirect means.

Anyway, if you think of it, take a look at it (you can get to the other sites by clicking on their tabs):

http://shop.thehungersite.com/

Happy Thanksgiving!

Trip Itinerary - Switzerland

2009-07-29T00:20:00.001-04:00

For those who might not know, I am going to be spending a week in Switzerland for my birthday. As fate would have it, I was sitting at my desk listening to WBUR, my favorite NPR station, and they mentioned if you donate, you could get a ticket to the Dalai Lama talk in Boston. Well, that got me really excited as I have been wanting to go hear the Dalai Lama talk...that's one of my "Things to do before I die" list. Last year when I checked his website out, he had no travel plans on the agenda so after I heard he was going to be in Boston, I headed to his website and lo and behold a packed calendar! I quickly scanned the dates and noticed he was going to be talking ON MY BIRTHDAY! Sweet! And then I saw it was going to be in Switzerland...not so sweet...especially after I took a look at my budget.

Seeing how I have strong Badger energy, well, I immediately started digging. After all, how often does one have something on their "Things to do before I die" list pop up on their birthday? So, after doing some digging, turns out I could do this trip for approximately $2,000...including a round trip plane ticket...but I'd have to camp, which was all set to go as one of my friends was going to go with me to help split the costs. Yippie! So I buy the plane ticket and then turns out that she couldn't go with me. Waahhh!

Well, I've already got the plane ticket, so I was going to go. I figured, if I could travel around Japan without knowing ANY of the language except "Thank you" and "Goodbye" that I could make it in Switzerland...I do know a little bit of German after all. VERY little, but more than what I know in Japanese anyway. haha So I'm good and then my sister and my other friends are freaking out because I'm going to go by myself and then out of the blue, my friend TE, calls me up to catch up. We have dinner and I let her know about my trip and she wants to go with me, so now I have a traveling companion and everyone is all relaxed again. ha!
The other night, TE, goes riding and meets this guy from Australia and turns out he lived in the city where the Dalai Lama is going to speak. So he kindly gave us a lot of tips and after we got to know him a bit he offered to call his friends that still live there and see about putting us up for the time we are going to be there because it was Black Fly season and we would be eaten up if we camp. Wow, now talk about a small world huh? Anyway, we're waiting to hear from him to see how this will go.

As my friend, MS, said, "It should all work out, either way; fate smiles down on an open-minded traveler! =)"

So here is the plan for my most awesome world adventure!

Saturday arrive in Geneva, Switzerland. Explore the city and try really, really hard not to go to sleep until 10 pm to help with the Jet Lag.

Sunday make our way to Lausanne via train, to either the camp ground or to the Aussie friend's place.

Monday we have to explore Lausanne, hopefully go to the Swiss Army Knife Store. I want their motorcycle knife. :o)

Tuesday & Wednesday - the Dalai Lama!! Yippie!

Thursday & Friday - ride motorcycles through the Alps.

Saturday, fly back to the US. :o)

No worries, I will be picking up cowbells for everyone. ;o) haha Except for my sister who gets Kinder Eggs. haha And yes, I will be taking loads of pictures.

Catch you all in a week!!

Oh my gosh! I'm 7 again!

2009-07-26T00:09:00.001-04:00

haha I was surfing You Tube and I came across...

VOLTRON! Defender of the Universe!

I can recall my sister and I rushing home from school so we could watch VOLTON! Defender of the universe!

Wee! What fun! haha

Drumming

2009-07-25T23:25:00.001-04:00

Does it seem like I'm spamming now? haha Like the moon, I have my periods of creativity and then of nothingness, so bear with me. ;o)

On the spur of the moment, I was invited by my dear friend SW to go to a introduction to Drumming in Asheville. So I happily accepted her offer and went with her.

Larry, the guy running the drumming tent, offers free drum lessons at the French Broad Food Co-op on Monday nights in Asheville and I think he also spearheads the Friday night Drumming Circle downtown Asheville. Really cool guy. He's the one with the cowboy hat.

Look at me, so very intent on making sure I was maintaining the beat. Which worked...until I started thinking. Which, as everyone knows happens to me all the time. So yes, I was very aware and so were the poor people around me as to how unable I was to keep a steady beat. haha

Anyway, it is a bit difficult to describe drumming so I went through the trouble of uploading a video clip on to You Tube of the Women's Drumming Troupe in Asheville called "Wild Bodema." Who performed for us in between drumming workshop demonstrations.

You want to talk about people having FUN! These women most definitely ARE! See, this is what happens when you have rhythm and practice a lot. And if you don't THINK. haha

If your drumming becomes too bad, they carry you off stage like this poor guy... ;o)

Remember to smile and laugh. Life doesn't have to be so serious. :o)

Festival of Native People

2009-07-25T21:32:00.001-04:00

I have wanted to go to a Native American Powwow for a while now, I thought that it would be really cool to see people embracing their Heritage. Well, I ended up missing the Powwow at Cherokee but lucky for me, the next weekend had something called the “Festival of Native People” and I think this was more along the lines of what it was that I really wanted to experience.

When I watched this advertisement on the Cherokee website, I really found myself emotionally affected.

I’m not really sure why, I just felt moved almost to tears by the video. I figured it must have been just seeing so many smiling faces as they were sharing their endangered cultural heritage. In fact, with many of the speakers, the leaders usually fathers, would talk about how proud they are to be able to share their culture with people who actually want to know about it, but also to have their own young people wanting to learn about their culture to keep it alive. I got teary eyed several times as these men would get choked up expressing how proud they were of their children wanting to learn the traditions.

During the break, we got a chance to go through the Native Arts and Craft tents. As we were walking through, the Apache performers, who were mostly teenage boys wearing the baggy jeans and hip-hop tennis shoes and backwards baseball caps, were stopped several times by people who just wanted to tell them how much they enjoyed their performances. These boys were just so amazed by all the attention they were getting. I overheard them say with disbelief in their voices, “Wow man, I can’t believe how many people have come up to us.” There was a bit of pride in that statement as well.

I found this to be another example of how just expressing your enjoyment or appreciation can really have a positive influence on others. A simple thumbs up from a stranger caused these guys to just light up.

Sometimes, it’s just the simple things that have the greatest impact on people.

Tribes represented were:

Cherokee-Shown here doing an audience participation dance.

Zuni - had a lot of really cool outfits so I'm going to show a couple from them.

Eagle Dancer with real Eagle Feathers.

Water Maidens, they were balancing pottery on their heads as they did their dance.

Just thought this was cool because it really reminded me of their well known Animal Fetish carvings. The guys in the Buffalo outfits are holding thunderbolts that you see on the fetishes.

Hawaiians - They performed twice. Once during the day and at the end. When they said they were going to do a Pele Honor Ceremony, I thought for sure that it would involve fire, but it didn't and I was sad, but still the drumming was incredible.

Apache - These are teenage boys I was talking about earlier. They were actually doing ceremonial rituals. This one was in honor of the sacred directions.

Totonac Pole Fliers from Mexico. These guys are amazing, they climb to the top of this VERY tall pole and then tie a rope to their ankles and slowly twirl down the pole upside down while the guy at the very top plays his flute. Wild!

Seriously, nothing else is securing them except for that rope on their ankle!

Git Hoan from British Columbia. I really liked them, they had a lot of really cool masks and really told their people's stories and songs. I liked that sprinkle of history into their dances. This particular one involves a horrible beast (looks like a mosquito) and the water maiden who is trying to warn the hunter, but he ignores her and ends up dying. Then she warns another man, who also ignores her and ends up dying and then she warns a woman, who listens to her and ends up killing the beast. See it pays to listen to nature people! ;o)

Inca Son from Peru. Their music was so relaxing that I got really sleepy during their performance.

Then it was the Hawaiians again. They did this really cool opening where the only guy blew into the shell to make a horn noise.

I honestly think that the woman's face on the left says it all when it comes to how they felt performing their native culture to such a receptive audience.

She was just absolutely beaming. Just had a HUGE SMILE on her face the entire time.

How blessed were the people in the audience to be witness to pure joy. Makes me smile just thinking about it.

Firewalk

2009-07-25T20:50:00.001-04:00

Let me tell you, ever since my dear friend, NE, told me about a firewalk she did, I’ve been wanting to do one. So for the past two years or so, I’ve been keeping my eyes out for a firewalk being offered in the area.

Well, as luck (or is it?) would have it, B&T went to go see a Native Elder, Rainbow Eagle, speak at a place called “The Garden” in North Carolina. Turns out they do a firewalk every now and then. Well, since B&T have heard me talk about my desire to do a firewalk they got all the necessary information to find out about making it a reality. Did I mention just how much I think that B&T ROCK?! They are THE BEST people you could ever hope to meet! I am so very blessed to have them in my community of friends.

As with everything in life, your intentions have everything to do with your experience. Everyone comes to a firewalk with whatever it is they wish to experience. I had thought about the firewalk so much that I wasn’t actually all that excited about doing the firewalk as in, I knew I could do the walk with no problems. I was more excited about being able to sleep in a Teepee. Yes, I am odd.

My intention for the firewalk was to see what sorts of feelings and emotions or thoughts that would come up right before being faced with the challenge of walking on fire. I figured that this would be very representative of how I handle challenges in life. Well, Spirit threw me a curve ball. I learned more about how I handle challenges in life with the trust exercises that we did before we did the actual firewalk. I learned that I have to think about what it is that I’m going to be doing and then once I commit to the activity, I have a little twinge of fear, but I go for it fully. If I get a chance to think about the activity for a long time, like I did for the firewalk, it’s like I’ve already done it, and I had no fear. Just bring it on so I don’t have to think about it anymore!

So the highlights.

Fire Ceremony. From the Lakota or perhaps the Inca tradition. We were given red square cloth in which we made an intention and then took a bit of ceremonial tobacco and placed it in the square. Then tied our squares into little bundles with red string, and held it up to our ancestors and to Spirit to acknowledge our prayers of intention. At one point, I noticed that I started folding my little bundle into a wonton shape, this made me grin and made me feel connected and acknowledged by my Korean ancestors.

Then right before the firewalk, we finished the fire ceremony by placing the bundles into the fire and “washing” ourselves with the fire. Yes, we actually placed our hands into the fire and brought the energy to our chakras and over our crown. Very powerful.

Falling exercise. This exercise was probably the most profound for me. On these metal folding chairs, we climbed on top of a 2” by 6” board and then fell back into the waiting arms of strangers. I kept looking at the board convinced that there was NO WAY it was going to hold me, I don’t care WHAT they say! And then my BFF, CC, goes up there without so much as blinking an eye. O_o

What was so cute was that once she was on the board you could see that she was now thinking, “What the <beep> was I thinking?!” haha Then she did it. I was so stunned by her determination and courage to go, that I went next. Once I got up there, I got to thinking about technique (my bad habit) and then told my brain to shut up, and then just fell backward.

This exercise told me so much about myself. I saw how I approach situations, how I react, and just how much stronger I am than I had previously thought. Just absolutely profound.

Running with eyes close. The next exercise was running in a field, trusting that you would be told to stop before you were injured by running into a tree or into the creek. Ha! Again, another realization about myself. I will go into something full force and will slow down if I think that I should already be at the end which will cause me to slow down (doubt myself) and that I need reinforcement. I also can’t run straight, I tend to run to the right. Haha

The firewalk, amazing, yet not at all scary. I got more out of walking across the fire with TM and CC. I didn’t feel heat on my feet and only felt the discomfort of walking across a bunch of loose pebbles. After the ceremony, we gave thanks to the fire, and when we kneeled down in front of it, the heat from the coals was incredibly hot. Which just reinforced that hey, you did walk on FIRE! Here are our dirty feet to prove it! Yeah, not as dirty as you would think it would be. We didn't take pictures during the actual ceremony because apparently that causes people to not be in the right frame of mind and they tend to get burned. So...yeah, I chose NOT to take pictures during the firewalk!

The night was capped off with me and CC sleeping in a Teepee. Everyone else either slept in the house or went home. It was absolutely amazing to lie there and look up through the top of the teepee and see the stars in the sky. I can still feel the peace that I felt as I laid there before drifting off to sleep.

I am really blessed!

2009-07-25T20:34:00.001-04:00

Holy smokes! In the past couple of weeks, I have been having such wonderful experiences.

I will break the events up into separate blog posts to go into them in more detail but I am sitting here and I am just completely overwhelmed by just how HAPPY I feel. I feel as though my heart is going to burst with joy.

Since I last wrote, I have experienced a Firewalk, the Festival of Native People’s at Cherokee Reservation, gave a talk at a local Metaphysical Group about “The Importance of Integrating Knowledge,” went and participated in an introduction to Drumming at a Festival, and I’m currently gearing up and finishing up the last minute details to a dream trip of mine…to see the Dalai Lama.

Part of me is saying, “You know, in this economy, you really should be staying home and saving and paying off your bills.” And the other part of me is saying, “Shut the <beep> up, this is a trip of a lifetime! DO IT!” (Yes, not very higher self, but my higher self usually doesn’t mince words. Haha) As my good friend, TM, reinforced in his talk on Thursday, the point of life is to experience it.

And I’m almost overwhelmed with emotions, mostly an overflowing feeling of pure joy and happiness, at actually DOING things. LIVING!

Wow. How awesome.

Message of Butterfly

2009-06-20T18:36:00.001-04:00

One night, I was having a delightful conversation with BM&TM. In which we were discussing the topic of "Change." We observed that so many people are afraid of change that they would rather be in the living hell that they are in and would fight you tooth and nail against you in order to stay in their misery. Why? Because there is a certain level of comfort in the known.

Look at a lot of people repeating the same pattern of behaviors and then complain, "Why does this always happen to me?" Well, because they keep going back to the pattern of behavior that is known and has a certain comfort. How many of us know people who complain about having horrible boyfriends or girlfriends and yet continue to date various clones of their horrible ex?! It takes a certain kind of strength to break out of the cycle, to get use to something that isn't known!

I read an article by Nicholas D. Kristof in the New York Times called "Loss of Innocence" in which he purchased the freedom of two teen prostitutes in Cambodia and arranged it so they would be reunited with their families they were taken from as young girls. One of the girls willingly went back to the brothel who had kidnapped her in the first place, and one can only guess that the real reason was the fear of the unknown and all the new variables that came into her life at this new life.

When I think of stories like that I am reminded of a story that TM told me:

A person noticed a butterfly struggling so very hard to break out of the chrysalis. The observer watched as the butterfly fought and fought and felt a little sorry for it and then watched as the butterfly finally broke free and flew off.

The observer then came across another butterfly struggling out of the chrysalis. This time, the observer thought she would help and so she cut the chrysalis so the butterfly wouldn't have to struggle and could just fly away.

But, the butterfly could not fly and ended up dying. The struggle of the butterfly out of the chrysalis was important and part of the process of strengthening the butterfly so when it finally did break out, it would have the strength to fly off on its own.

Sometimes, when you are going through what seems to be hell, is just a time in which you are are developing the strength for a new phase in life. It's all a matter of perspective and perception. Unfortunately, most of us don't have the ability to see too far into the future, so we aren't able to see the immediate blessings of the situation we are going through at the moment and yet when we look back, we can see the gift of the struggle in our present situation and that it wasn't as horrible or as bad as we thought it was...

Sometimes, the rewards of the struggles have a habit of making us forget the pain and the struggles of the journey.

But the question is, "How do you know what the outcome will be until you are WILLING to try?"

Spiritual Engineer

2009-06-20T17:38:00.001-04:00

For those who don't know, I am what most people would describe as a Shaman. A Shaman is an ancient Siberian word to describe a person who is in communication with the spirit world and the plane in which we exist physically. There are TONS of different types of Shamans and there all are products of their experiences and their culture. So the most typical image of a Shaman for Western Cultures is the Medicine Man or Woman from the Native American Cultures. However, there are others out there, mostly in tribal cultures, such as among the Aborigines (Australia), Eskimo (Alaska), Sami (Lapland, Finland), Mongolians, Siberia, Mali (Africa), Peruvian (South American), and the list goes on and on.

On a personal level, after my trip to Korea to answer a lot of all consuming questions concerning my personal identity, I was informed that along the female lineage, my family had a lot of healers. As being a Mudang (Shaman) in Korea placed you in the very low social class, so my family started distancing itself from the title to avoid the stigma of being a Shaman. My mother tried to suppress this information from me, but through my cousin, I found out that one of my Korean Aunts is a practicing Mudang and that this was our heritage. Now this didn't necessarily make me automatically think that I was a Shaman, but rather it was picking up one Shaman book after another and realizing that I was already doing these practices but in my own ways. The intent to remove lost or attached spirit entities was there, I just didn't do things like walk up blade stairs to do it. ;o)

The picture below is a Mudang, who is about to perform the blade stair case ritual. In which she will walk up the blade step to the top platform. This is done as a way to frighten the evil spirits that are around because they can see how powerful she is by performing such a dangerous feat! I took this photo at the Andong mask festival when I was in Korea.

Based on what I had witnessed and learned about Shamanism, I was still very reluctant to call myself a Shaman, until one day, it just hit me that the title wasn't for me, but rather it was for those who did not know me. A place for people to start before they dove in to the information that I had to offer.

Although, I have to say, I rather like the description that my good friend TM offered up the term, "Spiritual Engineer." An engineer is someone who takes theories and use them for practical purposes. Well, I pretty much operate in the same way when it comes to spiritual matters, take these practices and use them to make our physical lives better. That really describes me very well. I'm a problem solver, that's for sure.

That's something I found rather frustrating about Psychology Research. It seems like they just begin the process, trying to pinpoint what the issues are, but then they don't seem to do anything with what they found. It seems like the information is then left and they start over to find other ways in which they get to the same "problem." Which it is good to get an idea as to what the various triggers are, but eventually you need to actually deal with the problem itself. Perhaps they look at the other side of the equation once you get past the Undergraduate stage, not sure, but frustrating for a problem solver such as myself.

Yet, the more I travel this road, the more that I am realizing that it's really the PROCESS that matters, not the end result. In other words, it's what you saw and did on your journey to XX, not you being at XX. Watch the movie "Up!" and you'll see the message there.

Labels?! I don't need no stinkin' labels!

2009-05-10T02:12:00.001-04:00

A topic near and dear to my...throat... is how I despise labels. I guess to be more specific, I despise how people use and abuse labels.

It is because of labels that I spend most of my life on this quest to figure out my self Identity. Being of a mixed race, I was often asked, "What ARE you?" Which, didn't bother me, except when asked in a rather rude way, as though I was some sort of freak or something.

This theme was brought up again when we were required to fill out government questionnaires in school which asked what Race you were. During this time, "Mixed" or "Bi-racial" was not an option so I would sit and stare looking at which ONE of those boxes accurately fit me. I asked my teachers which box and they would just shrug their shoulders and just say, "Pick one," or "Put down your father's race." I recall asking my father and he told me to pick, "White." Which to me, felt as though it was wrong, like it was somehow denying my Korean heritage and I always felt uneasy about that.

Through the years, the option to pick "Mixed" or "check all the boxes that apply" became allowed, which made me feel more at peace with myself. However, the guilt of having to choose between the two heritages was the primary motivator for me to study abroad in Korea several years ago. Which has turned out to be one of the most rewarding and enriching things I have ever done in my life, thus far, and I doubt I would have gone on this trip had I not been for my adolescent experiences.

Now don't get me wrong, labels are a great way to classify and discuss things in a quick manner, but there are those who will immediately disregard you due to a simple label, who would completely disregarding the individuality of the person or situation due to the label. It is as if they are so caught up in their static ideology, that they can't actually see situations as what they really are, fluid and ever changing. It is THIS abuse of labels that I have issue.

Throughout history great atrocities have occurred due to labeling abuses. Entire groups of people have used the "US vs THEM" labels to call for the genocides or abuses of people. The most obvious being "Nazi vs Jews," but you also have "Tutsi vs Hutu," "VRS vs Bosniak," "Taliban vs ...well, pretty much anyone who disagrees with them," "KKK vs minorities" and on and on and on.

What really got me was the mantra I kept hearing from a certain group, "If you aren't FOR the war, then you're AGAINST the troops." Um...my father was a solider, I wouldn't want him killed or ANY service person killed. Seems to me, that being AGAINST the war is pretty much FOR the troops, but then again, they were just using a Straw Man fallacy.

So that got me wondering why this was besides the obvious, trying to dehumanize a group so it was psychologically "easier" to deal with abusing another living being. In my book group, we read Eckhart Tolle's "A New Earth" which has explained to me just how powerful the Ego is at driving people to do things they would never normally do, just to preserve their Ego or sense of self.

Amazon.com: A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life's Purpose (Oprah's Book Club, Selection 61): Eckhart Tolle: Books

ISBN: 0452289963
ISBN-13: 9780452289963

Which got me to realize I was one of those people who firmly believed that I was my thoughts and beliefs. I would viciously attack anyone who questioned my thoughts and beliefs, because as I wrongly believed, that these very things were ME. I refused to change my position on views because to change would to admit that I was wrong and that definitely was not allowed if I wanted to keep my identity as intelligent woman. As I grew older, I became more and more rigid and firm in my viewpoints...until I became enlightened.

A Bunny Trail:

I had been struggling with neck issues shortly after my 24th birthday, I had started seeing a Chiropractor and was beginning to become very discouraged as it started to look like I would ALWAYS be under the care of a Chiropractor. After a dark night of the soul, I began on a journey to find a way to heal myself. Fate lead me to a Reiki Open House in which I was introduced to the Japanese alternative healing art and what would be the beginning of my spiritual path.

I soon met other like-minded spiritual seekers and began reading all sorts of books about alternative medicine. My roommate at the time introduced me to Louise Hay's "You can heal your life".

Amazon.com: You Can Heal Your Life: Louise Hay: Books

ISBN: 0937611018
ISBN-13: 9780937611012

Once I read this book, things started to add up for me, and I was able to peel away at the layers of emotional hurts that I had been causing my DIS-EASE. According to Louise Hay, one of the issues dealing with my neck was my stubborn refusal to see other sides of an issue. (Ring a bell?)

Basically all of this stuff was just to point out the importance of being flexible and being willing to change and that it really is OK to change your mind. From what I am beginning to understand, only those who are able to change and adapt to the situation are the ones who will survive, those who refuse to change will be destroyed in one way or another. Heck, I've just described Evolution!

Learn from my and other people's mistakes! Don't get caught up in labels or rigid views which prevent you from adapting and growing, because it sure makes you a prime candidate for manipulation and a BIG PAIN IN THE NECK!

Tucson Gem Show - 2009

2009-05-09T23:29:00.001-04:00

For those who don't know, I am the official "Foot up Christy's butt" business motivator of Harmony Crossings, a metaphysical jewelry store. If you believe in Numerology, it's because I'm a Life Path of 8, but if you don't, it's because I'm logical and have some background in Business from the Wake Forest Summer It's All About Business Program and a couple of classes that I took at Virginia Tech and ETSU. ;o)

Anyway, because of my involvement with Harmony Crossings and also having several things just click into place, we ended up going to the Gem Show of all US Gem Shows, the Tucson Gem Show. Basically, the city of Tucson is transformed into several huge Gem Shows. They have pretty much everything you can think of in the way of Gems and Mineral Specimens.

As fate would have it, we have two wonderful friends, Moria and Lori, who were kind enough to put me, Christy, and my sis, up for the week. So in between buying things for the store, we sprinkled in various side trips. Which, we could not have done, without the kindness of Moria for trusting me with her vehicle. You rock chica!!

I would just like to say, how very fortunate and grateful I am with all these wonderful experiences I continue to have in my life. I mean, how often do you just say, "I'd like to go to the Tucson Gem Show" and have all these opportunities to make it become a reality? The key though, is actually seizing these opportunities. Not saying that you should seize EVERY opportunity, but the ones you REALLY want to take.

Yes, I'm one of those "woo woo" people who believes in the power of Crystals and other things that have been described as false by science. It is my belief that there are many things that science hasn't quite figured out yet and will prove later as technology improves.

The Gem Show is a mixed bag energetically. There are some places that have what I would describe as bad energy, which makes me immediately back out of the tent, and not even bother with looking at their merchandise. I'm not sure why I feel that way, but I trust this feeling and move on. For instance, this place here, did not feel good.

There are other tents where the energy feels really good and it's like walking into a party with a bunch of your friends. We went into another tent where they also had furs and it didn't feel as sad, yet the "product" (I hate to use this term for these animals) did not have a "massacre" feel to it.

Yes, I know it seems odd to see skinned foxes at a Gem Show but for some reason it ties in with a lot of Shamanic and New Age practices, which I just got to question a bit. As someone who resonates with Shamanism (this will be another blog entry in itself to go into the depth of all this), I really have to question the reasoning behind using furs and feathers obtained from a chop shop. Perhaps in the past, there was a legitimacy in using such things for they did not have alternative objects, such as a stuffed animal, to represent the animal spirit.

How is one honoring the spirit of an animal by using their fur that came from commercialized murder?

I think this is an example of where the spiritual message got lost in the dogma of the practice.

No-Thingness

2009-05-04T22:47:00.001-04:00

This is where I am in my life, in a state of "No Thingness." I've been in this state for several months now. Just in this state of where it seems nothing is happening, that nothing is really going on, it just kind of...is.

This is a somewhat surreal place. Where I'm going through the motions of life and yet, when I try to get a glimpse of my future, of where I will go from here, I can't see a thing. It is like being in this card, where everything is pitch black and I can't see a damn thing. I don't know what is up, or what is down. Just this floating in suspended animation.

Card V: No-Thingness from Osho Zen Tarot

This isn't a bad place, really.

Oh sure, it CAN be a bad place, but it's all in how you perceive this place that will determine how you will feel.

If I were to describe how I viewed life, I would say that life is a play in which everyone is the main character, and everyone that you know is a guest star on your show and you in theirs, and no one has an official script. Every now and then, you find yourself in your dressing room (No-thingness).

You have several choices while in your dressing room.

You can try to come up with some lines you will say for possible scenarios, knowing that this might be a futile exercise because you really have no idea what is going to happen when you do get back out there on the stage.

You could just worry yourself, pacing back and forth, growing more anxious as you hear the hammering and the saws of the crews working on the mystery set above.

You could consult someone who had a glimpse of your stage for some advice.

Or you could just relax and just take a nap, getting rested up for whatever might happen, trusting that your crew is taking care of things for you.

I have been in varying degrees of all situations and am now starting to relax into just trusting that everything is going to turn out just fine. Do I still get nervous when I don't hear or feel the crew above? Um...YES, but now I've realized that if I call out to my loyal crew above, I am usually greeted with a chuckle and assurances that everything is just fine.

Something amazing is on the horizon for me, this I am sure. What it is, I'm not sure, but it's going to be a fun ride. :o)

We must be willing to get rid of the life we've planned, so as to have the life that is waiting for us.

Joseph Campbell

China 2007 - Day 4: Forbidden City

2009-05-03T11:42:00.001-04:00

Our final day in China was spent at Tian'anmen Square (Gate of Heavenly Peace) area before we went could go into the Forbidden City. Prior to this trip, all I knew about Tian'anmen Squares was that it was where all these students were killed by the Government for wanting democracy. I was roughly 12 years old when this tragic event occurred and all I can recall about the event was a grainy video of a tank as it was about to run over a student protestor. I had no idea where we were until I saw a cheerful Olympics store stating where we were.

Immediately a soberness came over me and I started to take in the surrounding area from a different perspective. The cheerful pre-Olympic decorated streets were ignored and I saw this wide corridor as a site in which thousands were running for their lives on that fateful June 1989 day. As I stood in the center of the Square, surrounded by armed guards with machine guns watchfully surveying tourists for any signs of trouble, I just took in the area. I had not known that Tian'anmen Square was surrounded by so many grand governmental buildings, Chairman Mao's Tomb, and the entrance to the Imperial City.

The guide told me, through my cousin, that to view Chairman Mao, you would have get there roughly around 5 am and wait several hours to see him for a minute. This was AFTER you got a ticket that gave you permission to be allowed to stand in line.

On the side closest to us, was the Great Hall of the People, in which there was a huge Olympics countdown clock.

There was a certain line in the Square that you could not cross that was heavily guarded. I'm not sure why they chose this area to block off, except for that it was directly in front of the opening to the Imperial City and the huge Chairman Mao painting but still there was a 4 lane roadway and a huge sidewalk in front of that.

If you are a map geek, you should totally check it out on Google Earth, although, they don't have it in 3D mode yet, but still gives you an idea of how HUGE the Forbidden City is in size. Before we actually got into the "forbidden" part of the city, we came across a military exercise being done in one of the court yards.

There was just so many people trying to get in and that was still with our set entrance times. So we were instructed to follow the Maroon flag. Notice again, the yellow glazed tiles above the entrance into the Forbidden City. From what I understand they replaced the jade for preservation reasons.

One of the interesting stories relayed to me was that at some point, an assassin tried to dig his way under the city to kill the Emperor. After that incident, the city was redone to where the streets were now 10 m (32 feet) deep in solid concrete. O_o The familiar gray concrete bricks can be seen in all the works done by the Ming Dynasty and the Forbidden City is no exception.

The architecture was really amazing throughout and it was interesting to note that things were very similar to what I had seen in Korea but a much LARGER scale. Holy smokes!

I had to take a picture of the royal staircase. The Emperor was only allowed to be carried up the stairway. Yes, it is that steep! I can't imagine being one of the servants having to carry the Emperor up that staircase!

During the trip, there was a family with two young children. The well behaved older son and the young daughter, who wanted to hang out with the older girls. I didn't mind the little girl hanging out with us although, I don't know how the other 20 something Korean girls felt about her hanging out with them. She was a delight and boy was she passive aggressive toward her parents, especially her mother, when told to leave us older girls alone. She sulked for several hours, being this ball of gloom in all family photo shots, not responding to her mother's attempt to buy her happiness with Olympic souvenir toys and favorite candies. Cherry would have NONE of that. I just laughed at this spectacle that had taken place for almost 24 hours (started in Day 3) and told her mother it would be an honor if Cherry could join me and Ji-Eun on the tour. Cherry immediately perked up and was a huge ball of light for the rest of the tour. She was so cute!

We also hung out with a Korean teenager, who was thrilled that I would want her to hang out with us and let her practice her English with me. Her comprehension and pronunciation was really amazing for a middle school student. I wished we got a picture of her! I have a picture of her brother, but not her. Strange. Anyway, she was a treat as well. :o)

Our China cousin had also given us an exotic Chinese fruit, called a Dragon Fruit. She said it was delicious, but we couldn't figure out how to eat it (we had no knife) and we figured we couldn't bring it back to Korea with us, so we gave it to the bus driver. Along with the various Chinese cookies and candies we picked up at a local convenience store. Talk about YUCK! The cookies all had a diesel taste to it. Isn't this the coolest looking fruit though?

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed my trip. Had a lot of amazing experiences, even though a lot of it was under the careful eye of the Chinese Government and it was pretty obvious that a lot of the trip was designed so we only saw the positive side of China. Which, let's face it, who would should you their slums or their messy rooms or their "crazy" relatives? ha!

There was a lot about China that was an eye opener to me as far as my preconceptions of how China was ruled. I was expecting to see the physical presence of this Communist Iron Fist and was surprised to see it so infrequently. Where was this "scary" China I heard so much about it? Where just breathing funny could get you in jail? But, you know, truth be said, I would rather not find out.

That's it for our trip! Thank you for joining me!

China 2007: Day 3

2009-05-03T02:16:00.001-04:00

Early the next day, we were loaded up with a suitcase full of tea for our various aunts and met with our tour group at the Temple of Heaven. The Temple of Heaven was built by the Ming Dynasty to pay special homage to Heaven. Inside the Temple of Heaven is a huge park where local Chinese exercise and hang out. Mostly with a lot of older Chinese.

We got to see several groups practicing various styles of Tai Chi. Here's fan Tai Chi.

Here's Sword Tai Chi.

Then there were folks who did calligraphy, I wish I knew what they were writing out. This was all done with a type of sponge mop and water.

After a while Ji-Eun and I started trying to take interesting photo shots. You can only have so many peace sign poses. So I introduced Ji-Eun to these jump shots, which she really enjoyed doing, and no we didn't care that everyone else was looking at us like we were crazy. Oh and you can see the suitcase that was full of tea beside her. ha!

After much walking we finally got to the temple. Where I did my jumping pose. Did I mention that the Chinese have HUGE buildings?

We then got back on the bus and headed to some place where we got to ride on the bike taxis...

...to go see a man who was a Cricket fighting champion?

Yeah, I don't get it either but hey, it was a definitely UNIQUE experience.

What I thought was funny was how part of the tour was to show the Koreans how the Chinese was a bed culture. This was somewhat interesting to the Koreans, as Koreans typically sleep on the floor due to the floor heating system. My cousin just shrugged her shoulders as her family has beds too.

At some point we ended up going to two more of our sponsors, a textile store and a NASA foam pillow and mattress store. zzzZZZzzz

We then went to the Summer Palace, which was most famously known as the summer resort of Empress Dowager Cixi. Now what I didn't know was that this was the place that a Chinese storyteller spoke about when she came to the International Storyteller Center. So I missed out on the Stone Boat that she told her story about. Doh! Apparently instead of spending the money on her Navy like her counsel requested, the Empress built a stone boat to mock them. Well, I guess they had the last "We told you so" when the French came and burned parts of the Summer Palace due to the weak Chinese Navy. ha!

This palace has a man made lake surrounding it. It just boggles the mind how many men must have been used to create such a thing back in the 1750's. Geez! When we were there, it was so old that the Lake was frozen and people were skating on it.

Along the way toward the Palace, I ran into two elderly Chinese ladies who were selling post cards. I had avoided these street vendors before but I have a soft spot for elderly women trying to make a living, so I "haggled" just asking her to go down the equivalent of a dollar knowing full well I could have gotten it a lot cheaper than that but wanted her to have the money anyway. She just beamed, like she couldn't believe she actually sold one and then she went off to tell her friend. Who was also elderly and not in good health, so I also "haggled" with her and bought a packet from her. Then ran off before they could find more friends! ha! Ji-Eun remarked that I was really kind and I told her that I felt better knowing that at least tonight, those two women would be eating dinner. She thought about it and tracked down one of those old ladies and bought post cards from her as well. ha!

Ji-Eun posing on the Long Corridor after we got our post cards from the old ladies. The Long Corridor was a path in which only the Royalty and their attendants could walk, others had to walk beside it. So I made a point to walk the entire corridor. ;o)

Oh and here's a close up of one of the Yellow Jade protective spirits of the Palace Roofs.

Isn't that just so cool?

China 2007: Day 2: Ming Tombs

2009-05-03T01:29:00.001-04:00

After the Great Wall, we loaded up and headed to the Ming Tombs. Pictured is a quick photo I took from the bus as we were headed toward the Tombs.

It was during the Ming Dynasty that Beijing was declared the new capital of China, and a lot of the more famous landmarks of China were constructed. They were the ones to begin construction of the Great Wall, the Imperial City and the Forbidden City within it.

These folks really knew how to build BIG. As I was walking this LONG open area to the entrance, I happened to notice the pagoda at the top of the mountain above the Tombs. I can only guess that it's some sort of guard tower to watch over the Ming riches. I thought it would be pretty cool to go see that tower and I was told that the tower is actually A LOT farther away than it looks. Apparently it is a 4 hour drive there and several more hours to hike up to it. O_o That pagoda must be HUGE if it looks like a 3 story building from where we were standing. I also want to point out that entrance roof is made entirely out of Yellow Jade. Jade was reserved for royalty, and was considered a protective stone. Yellow jade in particular was believed to preserve the body after death, and was used a lot at tombs.

Once we got inside the Underground tomb of Emperor Wanli and his two wives. We saw an assortment of red boxes, which contained the Emperor and his wives various things needed for life on the other side.

Apparently, this tomb is one of two tombs in China that have been excavated and due to the botched excavation procedures, China refuses to excavate anymore tombs unless it is for rescue purposes. Apparently a lot of the silks were destroyed due to exposure and being dumped into a temporary room that was leaky and wet, just destroyed them. On top of that, during the Cultural Revolution, the Tomb was broken into by radicals and the bodies of the Emperor and his wives were taken up to the surface and then burned. So needless to say, the Chinese Government is all about leaving things alone.

The "entrance" to the tomb (it is now the exit for tourists) was discovered in an ancient text that mentions something about a special stone and then the exact distance in which they needed to go before they could uncover the entrance to the tombs. Once they found this spot and started digging, they found the royal entrance. Which had this little guy up on the ceiling:

Now, I have an affinity for dragons, especially due to being born in the Year of the Dragon. An interesting factoid is that you can tell where the dragon is from based on counting the number of toes it has. The Chinese Dragons has 5 toes, Korean Dragons have 4 toes and the Japanese Dragons have 3 toes. Also, a dragon is not a truly powerful one if it does not have an orb of some sort in its hand or mouth. In this tomb, you can see that the Dragon is the protector of the tomb and is not afraid to show you the Power that it has either.

After all this, we made our way back into the city to do our required going to stores who have sponsored our trips so we could have this great experience at such a cheap rate. As you can see, there was a lot of construction being done in preparation for the Olympics.

And here's a shot of the Bird's Nest Stadium.

Then we headed to our first sponsors, a Korean owned Jewelry Store. Where they had a lot of impressive things, I especially liked the solid Red Jade elephant. The constant go-go-go of the trip was really wearing on me at this point and I was just overwhelmed with just how tired I was. So I just sat there wanting very badly to climb back onto the bus and sleep but being forced to listen to this guy talk about his product. You know it's bad in your own language but try sitting through one in another language! O_o They let me stay in the back room and put my head down on the table while the others looked at jewelry.

We were then shuttled off to another place. I thought this pedestrian walkway was rather beautiful. This apparently was part of the Olympic Village area.

Anyway, our next vendor was a Chinese Tea company. So we sat through another infomercial about how great Chinese Tea is...in Korean. ha! Here is very old and very expensive Chinese Tea. Apparently tea can be just like very fine wine and improves with age. You too can own one of these levels at $500,000! I'm not sure I like tea that much!

We were instructed before hand NOT to purchase any tea as our China cousin was going to provide us with tons of it when we meet up. So we didn't but everyone else did. It was pretty interesting to see this little Chinese girl speak very fluently in Korean and then as we walked by other rooms, I would hear these other Chinese girls giving their talks in German and French. That was really interesting.

Then we ended up at the Beijing Aquarium, which was ok. I think what was more interesting was watching the employees changing the signs within the guest shop from Chinese over to Korean for our group. At this point, I was getting to feel a lot like this guy here:

I think the most interesting fish that I saw was the Pig Fish.

And we headed to our next infomercial at a reflexology spa. I was informed that we couldn't participate as our China cousin was now going to pick us up and bring us to her place for the night. Ji-Eun was really upset about missing out on the reflexology, so our cousin offered to take us to one in Koreatown. In addition to getting medicine foot baths, we also got shoulder massages. The girl working on my shoulders took a lot of breaks, which made me kinda laugh as I know N could totally relate!

Before that, we did go to a Korean Restaurant where the workers were all Chinese. I was told that these girls were not allowed to go past a certain amount of schooling based on their social status. Our waitress had asked my China cousin what language I was speaking and then once she was told I was American, I felt her scrutinizing me the rest of the time while I was there. Needless to say, I was on my best behavior. Although, it's not like I'm never NOT on my best behavior when in other countries.

That is definitely one thing I have learned on my travels abroad. You may be the ONLY person from your country that this person has ever met and they WILL base every opinion they have about your country based on your actions. And if they have met an "ugly" American, I can only hope that my behavior will cause them to take pause and decide not to write off an entire country based on the ugly behavior of a few. :o)

China 2007 - Day 2: The Great Wall

2009-05-02T23:46:00.001-04:00

So groggily we woke up and made our way down for Breakfast and then on to the bus to be driven somewhere. Yes, talk about an adventure not knowing where you were going! ha! Poor Ji-Eun had to put up with my snoring all night and slept most of the ride to our destination. Which she told me was to the Great Wall before she covered her eyes and slept.

Now that it was in the daylight, I got to see the non-touristy locations of Beijing from our bus window.

Now, I don't want you all to get the wrong impression. Based on all the places we drove around in Beijing, I would say this is not a typical area of Beijing. I guess if anything this would be the equivalent of taking a picture of a slum in the US. Although, I'm pretty sure our slums are paved, but I guess they have other things to worry about than paving parking lots and shoulders.

After a long, long drive, I managed to get a glimpse of our destination through the front bus window.

It was REALLY COLD, but we were prepared! I had long underwear under my jeans and tons of layers. My China cousin had warned us before hand so I made sure I was wrapped up!

We cheated and rode a Gondola up to the top, instead of walking the 2 hours to get to the top. Maybe next time...maybe...maybe not.

Ji-Eun was really scared the entire time, just freaked that the gondola would break and we'd plummet down into the valley below. So I distracted her by having her read the various graffiti inside the capsule and trying to figure out what countries the writers were from.

She was fine once we got onto solid land.

The thing about the Wall is how STEEP the wall is in a lot of areas.

Yes, those handrails do have a purpose! And no, I'm not shooting this from a strange angle either. It IS that steep. I can't imagine riding horses up this, especially in the winter! Based on what the tour guide told us, the wall is supposedly wide enough for 5 horses to run side by side along this corridor. I don't know how that is possible especially with some areas narrowing in for staircases. Plus the horses must be really small. I could see 4 WELL TRAINED horses, maybe.

The view was amazing though.

The construction of this amazing landmark born out of necessity is absolutely amazing. Especially when you think about the obstacles they had to overcome, with the weather, terrain, and just getting supplies up there, WITH the additional threat of the invaders this wall is designed to keep them out!

We, humans, can accomplish amazing things if we put our minds and resources to the task. :o)

China 2007-Day 1

2009-05-02T22:40:00.001-04:00

Let me just say, if you EVER want to go on a trip where you see EVERYTHING in a very short amount of time, go on a trip with a Korean tour company. O_o Sure, you won't have a clue as to what they're saying or what is going on but you sure will see A LOT!

Our tour began with our tour guide who was born in China to Korean parents. I'm sad to say that I don't know her name. She didn't speak any English either, but because I was American, she made a point to get me things that she thought I would like. Which was very kind and thoughtful of her.

Being a transportation engineer, I thought their toll gates were really cool because it actually reflected their culture. I mean look at the comparison between Chinese, Korean, and American toll gates.

China

Korea (Picture from Google Earth)

America (Jersey Turnpike Picture from Google Earth)

Who the heck designed these last two toll booths? Engineers?! haha. Even as an engineer, I know that just because things are "modern" doesn't mean that they have to be completely functional. I'm all about adding some ART and beauty to functional things.

Now, don't think I'm don't know the real reason why the Chinese toll booth is so decorative. When you have very limited entry ports into your country in which foreigners enter, you are going to want to give them a very good impression of your country as soon as possible. So you're going to want to spend the extra money prettying up functional and yet boring pieces of property as an advertisement for your country.

However, I think this brings up an interesting (well, to me, anyway) social commentary. In the engineering world, we rarely, if ever, get a client that comes to us and says, "I would like you to make this functional, environmentally friendly, and beautiful." No, rather, what we get are people who come to us that say, "Do the minimal possible so we can save money."

I believe that there are times when being completely functional can be detrimental to the soul. As humans, I believe we are inspired by beautiful things, which is why so many of us spend a lot of money to surround ourselves with beautiful things. Yet, what does it say for a society in which there are cookie cutter buildings? Sure, they're functional and cheap, but do we really want a society of concrete blocks? During my time in Korea, I found it rather depressing to be surrounded by boringly uniform apartment buildings that had a couple lines of paint on the otherwise plain concrete exterior. Where is the art? Where is the culture, the originality, the uniqueness of our towns and cities in the every day buildings? At times, I feel like our societal personalities are being sacrificed for the sake of the bottom dollar. There has to be a way to combine both.

Anywhoo, back to the trip. So the first place we are brought is to a Chinese circus. I don't particularly enjoy circuses, and was feeling rather drained so I kind of slept through most of this performance. I was told by my cousin that it was like the circus we saw in JeJu.

Then we went to dinner, where we had Peking Duck. OHMIGOD, how yummy!! Served Chinese style. In which you have a very large turn table in the center and very long chopsticks for you to grab what you wanted off the table. The people at our table took pity on me and indicated to me that I should use the soup spoon to scoop the pesky soft tofu onto my plate. Every time I attempted to pick some up, I would squeeze it too hard and it would split in two. I think they also got tired of waiting the several minutes it took me to grab ONE piece of tofu. haha Like the JeJu trip, they did not speak or ask about me with my cousin until the next day. They were trying to figure out why I would look at them blankly when they said something to them. ha!

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Seriously, find and track down Peking Duck when in Peking (a.k.a. Beijing), you will NOT be disappointed. Yummo!

We later went to this area where they have the street vendors that have all the odd things to eat. Like scorpion and crickets on a stick. Ji-Eun and I stuck to the safer fruit stick.

At this place, which I don't know why we were there, is where I finally saw my first Chinese Guard. He graciously allowed me to take a picture with him.

I guess this was the "Western" district as there were a lot more guards and what seemed to be high end Western stores. I went into a bookstore called, "Bookstore for Westerners." This bookstore had a lot of books in English, mostly about China. I picked up several books about Chinese Medicine and Ji-Eun picked up books about Chinese painting. When I returned to Korea, my relatives rolled their eyes and commented that I was definitely my mother's daughter with all these books that I had accumulated while overseas. ha!

Then around 11 or so we got back to our hotel where we were told that we needed to be up by 6 to start our day. O_o

China-2007: Westernization?

2009-05-02T21:23:00.003-04:00

So finally, I have taken the time to sit down and write about my trip to China. Can I just say how SURREAL it is to take a tour trip to a foreign country in a language you can't understand?! Thankfully, most of the signs in China were written in English and the Koreans were the ones wondering where they were. LOL! Yes, the tour guide spoke Korean and Chinese, but no English, except for the little bit she picked up from Sex and the City. ha! So needless to say, I spent most of my time looking for signs in English or poking my cousin to have her explain to me what the heck was going on and where we were going!

Before going on this trip, I had my preconceptions as to what this trip would be like. I figured I would be seeing a lot of guards with machine guns and very few Western products. Boy, was I wrong! I think I saw more Officers with guns in England than I did in China. Yeah, go figure. And all those people out there who think that America is a gun crazy country, I would like you all to know the first time I saw a machine gun in real life was at a British Airport in my early 20's and I grew up with a parent in the US Army!

So the first sight to greet me at the Beijing airport was:

Yes, that's right Ladies and Gentlemen! STARBUCKS!

And to add to surreal mood, the areas of China we were visiting we saw the following common sights:

AND

These are DEFINITELY sights that I did not expect to see in China. Weren't the Chinese Government tracking down Christians and killing them? And yet, here is Mr. Claus greeting me on the door of a Chinese pharmacy.

Granted, Christmas Décor doesn't always indicate Christianity. After all, one could argue that it is rather a celebration of materialism and entitlement, rather than a celebration of a poor, persecuted infant child of God. Which could be the route the Chinese have taken, they don't necessarily recognize the "Christ" in Christmas. However, since I don't know any Chinese people to ask without possibly causing unintentional harm , this will remain a mystery for now.

Another sight that I found rather surprising was the number of KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken) restaurants in China. I was told by my tour guide that there was more KFC's in China than there were McDonalds. Apparently, the Chinese really love to eat Chicken. I really wanted to eat at one to see what their menu looked like but alas, our trip did not allow for that. Koreans with their "fast, fast, fast."

A shift

2009-05-02T21:23:00.001-04:00

I have decided to take a time to reflect on certain aspects of my life and one of the pieces specifically has been my travel blog. During this reflection, I have come to realize that I haven't really been doing what I had intended to do with this travel blog, which was to focus more on my perceptions of my trip rather than just a reporting of what it was I did on my trips.

So from this point forward, I intend to write more about what my perceptions and reflections are about the places that I have visited. Hopefully, this perspective will allow for you to think in ways that are different than what you are use to thinking and maybe, add some knowledge into your own life.

Namaste. Sanskrit for "I respect that divinity within you that is also within me."

My Next Kiva Loan

2009-04-23T10:13:00.003-04:00

I went back to the Kiva website today and there are a couple more people to whom you can give loans. At the time there were approximately 5 groups and out of the groups, I chose to support Ms Tsend-Ayush Lhagva.

Tsend-Ayush Lhagva is 59, married and the mother of three daughters. Her family lives in Ulaanbaatar, the capital city of Mongolia. Two of her daughters are university students. In 2004, Tsend-Ayush started running a shoe making business. She makes traditional Mongolian shoes and sells them to local customers.

When she began to run her retail business, she had many competitors who were running similar businesses. To attract clients, Tsen-Ayush focused on quality and price. Her shoes were cheaper than others and had higher quality. Her working capital has increased from 200,000 tugrugs ($1.00 USD=1450 MNT) to 500,000 tugrugs. Her daughters are always helping with their mother's business when they have free time.

Tsend-Ayush sells shoes from home and dreams of owning her own shoe shop. She requests a loan to buy raw materials.

If you feel incline, you can go here and help someone help themselves.

How cool!

2009-04-21T17:39:00.003-04:00

Ok so now that I got my loan back, I went back to Kiva to share the wealth and do you know that there have been so many people loaning money that they have run out of people to give loans to?!

That is so very incredible! Amazing what $25 can do for people.

Kiva Loan is repaid!

2009-04-21T17:31:00.005-04:00

I just got an update letting me know that my Kiva loan has been repaid and they sent me and everyone else who contributed a "Thank you" video from Awa Guèye. According to the nice e-mail I got, it said Ms Guèye is speaking in her native language, "Wolof."

I can only guess that she is probably discussing what was written in the e-mail sent to me:
Awa thinks it’s a real advantage to her business to have been able to
obtain credit. In the beginning, she had no money. But now, after
several years of working, she’s been able to obtain a canteen for her
daughter to run, and bought a ticket for her oldest child who emigrated
from Senegal.

Recently, she’s been selling mandarins. She had some trouble with this
business, and had to sell some at a loss, but has been able to pay off
her loans nonetheless.

Isn't that just so cool?! I was part of helping someone help themselves. Wow, I wish I could share how happy I feel for her. I feel blessed and grateful to be a part of something so beautiful.

Dreams

2009-02-18T23:49:00.001-05:00

I know it's been months and I still don't have the pictures from my China trip up. This just has shown me how important it is to blog things as events happen otherwise, you end up finding yourself living in the past instead of focusing on the present. So as a typical Engineer, I have been conducting some research as to how to make things a little bit more efficient and what I've decided is to invest in a Netbook, which will have to wait until after I get my tax return and buy new tires for my car and put away money that I owe my parents. Priorities.

No, I haven't figured out which one I will get. Yes, I've checked out the various reviews and consumer reviews, and the HP Mini 2140 looks more along the lines of what I might get. I think I would prefer the Sony P-series (seen to the left) but seeing how that's $400 more...but then again the built-in GPS might actually be helpful...Ok sorry, went off into dreamland.

So why the Netbook? It's a mini-computer that just has the basic necessities for what I need for blogging my various trips. At 9 inches, they are SMALL and LIGHT, which is a definite plus when traveling. It has Wireless Internet capabilities and ports to allow for direct uploading of photos into it and has word processing capabilities. They usually come with Webcams so that's good if I should decide to video my blog instead of typing it out. ;o) It's all about convenience. The more convenient it is to blog, the more likely I'll do it, otherwise there are other things that will take up the space. As evident by the lack of my China trip being uploaded nor my Tucson Gem Show trip being blogged.

All of this is in anticipation for my motorcycle trips that I am currently planning. I'm so very stoked about this trip. No I don't have a time or date picked out. That all depends on how many vacation days I have available at work and the work schedule or being blessed with awesome luck. BUT I WILL go on this trip.

I think all motorcycle enthusiasts have a dream of touring the US on their bikes. Well, I'm definitely no exception. I've been collecting various towns and places to add to my map program for this ULTIMATE trip. The two places that I want to go so badly is up in the Badlands (Dakotas) and around Monument Valley (Navjo Nation). During my trip out to the Tucson Gem Show, I met up with a relative of mine, who grew up on the Navajo Reservation and was also a Park Ranger in one of his jobs. He has offered to give me a local's guided tour of the area. Needless to say I plan on taking him up on the offer.

So you might be wondering why I'm posting such an odd entry. It's because I have a theory that dreams that are voiced are more likely to come true than dreams that are kept to oneself.

I DREAM of this driving this road...

And I WILL! Just you watch!

Inspiration...

2008-11-10T08:56:00.003-05:00

...can come in unusual places.

"The best times of your life have not yet been lived."
Fortune Cookie

It's true, isn't it? Each day that you wake up is full of possibilities, full of choices. You chose to get up and go to work today, when you could have chose to call in sick and sleep in or just play hooky.

But, there are some who claim they don't have a choice, they HAVE TO go to work because they need to pay their bills. Yet, isn't that a choice? You could have just as easily chosen not to go to work and the consequence of that choice is that you don't get paid. Granted, some choices are forced choices, but still they are a choice. It really boils down to you CHOOSING to travel down a path that has the highest probability of a foreseeable outcome. However, there is still a chance that while you chose to go to work you might get there to find out like the DHL folks that you no longer have a job.

All of this ties into this passage that I read the other day which has really caused me to re-evaluate how I'm "living" life.

From Osho: Take it Easy, Volume 1 Chapter 13

A man who lives through conscience becomes hard. A man who lives through consciousness remains soft. Why?--because a man who has some ideas about how to live, naturally becomes hard. He has continuously to carry his character around himself. That character is like an armor; his protection, his security; his whole life is invested in that character. And he always reacts to situations through the character, not directly. If you ask him a question, his answer is ready-made. That is the sign of a hard person--he is dull, stupid, mechanical. He may be a good computer, but he is not a man. You do something and he reacts in a well- established way. His reaction is predictable; he is a robot. The real man acts spontaneously. If you ask him a question, your question gets a response, not a reaction. He opens his heart to your question, exposes himself to your question, responds to it....

I have always prided myself for being the ultimate planner and now, I'm not so sure this is really how I want to go through life. This will require changes in thinking and being and a whole heck of a lot of faith.

Brought tears to my eyes...

2008-10-21T21:27:00.004-04:00

I read this CNN article entitled "Commentary: Congolese rape victim learns to smile again."

Reading the article was just heart breaking and yet, it was inspiring to me and just brought home something I've been noticing more often. It wasn't the "stuff" that made Jeanne smile, but it was the emotional connection to another person.

Through my eyes, I have witnessed so many people, children especially, who equate love with material things and yet they feel empty inside and aren't sure why. The $200 doll in a financially strapped family is suppose to represent "love" even though the parents prefer to watch TV than go play, talk or just interact with their child. The post secret with the Tiffany's receipt for a million dollar ring and he secret written on it saying that she still doesn't believe that he loves her.

Then with all these lawsuits, it seems people are now afraid to touch each other at all! We have fathers who are afraid of even touching their child because someone might think it's inappropriate and bring them to court. We have friends who are afraid to hug except for the hugs that has a lot of distance between them or an open arm for fear of being labeled homosexual.

So now, people around me communicate though several sterile electronic mediums, forgetting how healing it is to be touched by another human. And I'm not saying in a sexual manner. Although, if that's the only way a person is able to get real human contact, then perhaps makes sense that sex addition is on the rise.

So I wonder, are you able to recall how it feels to get a hug from a friend? Not one of those half-hugs, but a great big bear hug? It feels wonderful doesn't it? It lets me know that I'm not alone and that someone really does care about me and my well-being. I feel Dayle did this for Jeanne, a woman who believed that she was unlovable and so damaged that no one besides the hospital workers would want her to claim her as family.

I have no doubt that this simple act of kindness will give Jeanne strength to continue living and be one of the good memories she will call forth to aid her in her darkest hour. And when you look at the scene, it is all so very simple. One human caring about another.

A quick update

2008-10-21T21:19:00.002-04:00

For those waiting for my China pictures, sorry, it's going to have to be a little bit longer on those. I'm currently in the process of getting my new place of residence in order. Hopefully by the end of this week or the beginning of next week I will know where I will be laying my head down at night once again. Which means, it will probably be next year before I get settled and even GET to the pictures!

But this is most definitely a good thing! :o)

So in the meantime, I will just put up random blogs about things that I think are pretty darn cool or heck, just interesting.

Peace!

Sweet! Kiva Donation!

2008-09-07T13:41:00.001-04:00

So for my birthday I got a Kiva Donation from my friend Nikki. So I am now sponsoring Awa Guèye from Senegal.

Awa Guèye is 53 years old, widowed with 7 children and 10 other people in her care, and has been a member of the village bank of Lélo in Thiès for 8 years. She is seeking a loan to buy and re-sell local fruit such as mangoes. With her income, she improves the living conditions of her children. The loan she is asking for will be reimbursed at the end of six months in a single payment.

------------------

I figure that any person who is supporting 17 people, not including themselves is indeed someone who has the drive to make things happen. Someone who can't afford to fail in life. This is someone most definitely worth supporting.

If you feel it is right, you can donate as little as $25 to support someone else who just needs to borrow your $25 to get a little momentum in their business and make a difference.

Make a loan
Change a life

Name: Teodosia Q
Location: Peru

Loan Needed: $725

100 % funded

Kiva Update - Salelologa Tumupapa Centre

2008-06-03T21:18:00.001-04:00

I just got an update about the Kiva loan that I gave:

Dear Jenn,
The loan you have made to Salelologa Tumupapa Centre - Group 1 has received a repayment of $186.00. The total amount repaid is now $186.00. This repayment will be divided amongst all the lenders who helped to fund this business, depending upon the percentage each lender contributed.

http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=41738

(I clipped out the boring legal stuff)

Best wishes,
- The Kiva Team
______________________________
Loans that change lives
http://www.kiva.org/

---------------

Well, I had hoped for more of an update but I guess if these women are borrowing the money to buy plastic bags and pots and pans, I doubt they have a computer with Internet access. ;o) Maybe they give updates quarterly, regardless, they must be doing something right if they're paying back the loan, right? :o)

Truly Happy People

2008-06-03T21:09:00.001-04:00

I just happened to check out the local news today and there was a post saying that Barack Obama is going to be in town on Thursday but you had to get tickets to be able to see him. So after some sleuthing, I was told when the tickets would be available.

Now this isn't a post about Obama or about politics. This is a post about my observation of the people getting tickets.

It was just so amazing to walk through the parking lot to see people passing me with huge grins on their faces and with their precious blue ticket in their hands, some of them on cell phones calling their friends all giddily to tell them they actually got tickets to see Obama...and we're not talking young people either. People in 70's and 80's.

What was most striking to me, was the smiles on their faces, they were genuine. These smiles were the kind that makes you smile because you honestly know and feel in you gut that they are REAL smiles. They also had a sort of inner glow, one that you normally see on a young child's face on Christmas morning or when they see something truly wondrous.

And honestly, it really touched me. After I got back to the car, I sat in my car and was so moved that I actually shed some tears because it isn't everyday that you get to see or feel that much joy, especially from strangers.

I just had to share.

Kiva

2008-04-05T11:02:00.004-04:00

The other day, I was surfing CNN.com and came across an article about several companies that exist to help the Poor help themselves.

But basically, here's the gist. There are many people in slightly under developed countries who just need a boost to help them set up their own business. Anyone who has tried to start their own business knows just how much money is required in the start up costs (A LOT) and that is enough to deter them from realizing their potential. They've got the passion and desire, just no money.

This is where organizations like Kiva comes in. They have set up a website where individuals from all over the world can loan as little as $25 to help someone realize their dream. You lend $25 and after they get their business up and running, usually in a year's time, then you get your $25 back. However, if the person's business tanks, you are out $25, so it's definitely NOT without risks but let's face it, losing $25 isn't going to break you.

Personally, I'm really drawn to this organization due to my humanitarian nature and the fact that this isn't a charity. It is helping people who want to help themselves. They are trying to make something of their lives and they just need a little help. I really have A LOT of respect for people who are wanting to actually DO something with their lives. Which is why I am choosing to spread the word about this organization.

I have chosen to contribute $25 to the Salelologa Tumupapa Centre - Group 1. What is also cool about the organization is that I get e-mail updates as to the Salelologa's progress. Which I will post on my blog as I get it.

What a wonderful way to help empower people.

Also, to my friends and family out there, please get me a gift certificate from Kiva in place of other presents (ex. birthday, Christmas). Thank you!

Life is what's up!

2008-03-30T20:11:00.001-04:00

So to quote a couple of lines from Mary Chapin Carpenter's "The Bug":

Sometimes you're the windshield
Sometimes you're the bug

Since I came back from Korea it seems like life has gone about 100 miles a minute. Which is why my pictures from my China trip is still not uploaded yet and why I haven't e-mailed all my super cool friends that I made in Korea either. We really don't want to get into all the things I should be doing right now either.

But as I've come to realize, if you live your life to JUST to fulfill obligations, then you might as well die, 'cuz you sure aren't living. There has got to be a balance between living and meeting your obligations. And if you're lucky then you can do both at the same time.

Right now, I plan on trying to slowing life down a bit and taking some of the stress out of my life. To set my perfectionist tendencies aside and accept that what I get done what I get done. While I would want to make things perfect, there are times when you just gotta do what you can and move on to the next item.

One recommendation for those who are into traveling and reading about idealistic souls who are looking for the meaning of life, I would recommend the book "Into the Wild" by Jon Krakauer. This is a true story about a young man who decided that he wanted to know what it meant to truly live. He got his inspiration no doubt from reading the likes of Thoreau, London, and Tolstoy, but unlike most people, he actually does it.

If you read the book superficially, then you'll just say the guy is an idiot and he deserved to die, and you missed the point. This book isn't about idealizing an idealistic youth who got in over his head, it's about giving you an insight into the question that has been haunting the human condition, "What is the meaning of life?"

This book is by no means the answer to this question, but rather it is a story of one soul who was trying to find the answer to this question. Especially from the point of view that society is poisonous to the human soul and the answer lies in Nature.

Amazon.com: Into the Wild: Jon Krakauer: Books

ISBN: 0307387178
ISBN-13: 9780307387172

And if you don't like to read, the book is also on DVD, I don't recommend the special edition because honestly, I thought it was a let down. I bought the special edition because I thought it would give me more insight into Chris McCandless, but all the second disc was about the movie making process. Two documentaries about how they filmed the movie and how they picked the music out, big deal. I wanted to see pictures of Chris and I wanted to see pictures and pages from his journals, which were not in the special edition, so you might as well buy the regular version if you are going to buy one.

If you are wanting to do both, then I recommend you watch the movie first and then read the book. The book has so much extra information that is just not in the movie, and the movie does really well with following the book, storyline wise. However, there are certain themes that the movie emphasizes that the book does not, and again, I think that the book will answer all the questions that you might want concerning his motivations and just what this guy is about. Also the bit about Krakauer's life really added depth into the psyche of Chris.

I can't recommend this book enough. It has haunted me and when I get some more time, I will expand on this book some more. In the meantime, go read this book yourself.

Arsonist Referred to Prosecution

2008-02-28T12:00:00.002-05:00

Arsonist Referred to Prosecution - The Korea Times

Been super busy with school and work and life, hence why you all haven't seen my pictures of China yet. Yeah, not going to make any promises as to how soon I will get to that because well, gotta take care of business, fun stuff later.

Just for those following, they DID find the arsonist who admitted to burning down the national treasure. A very disgruntled 70 year old Korean man, who felt that he was treated unfairly by the government and decided to take revenge by burning down Namdaemun. He said he would disclose fully his reasoning and the injustices that he's felt at his prosecution. Should be interesting to see what he has to say.

The Korean population is obviously upset over this and are looking for people within the government to blame over this. "Why wasn't Namdaemun protected better?" they demand to know, but everyone knows the real reason. When it comes down to all the government obligations, protecting historical monuments usually falls way below things like education, transportation, defense, and the like. There is talk about closing off all historic sites until security is improved on them, which would be a shame in a way. The best thing about visiting all the historic sites in Korea was the ability to actually walk in them and around them, to be apart of them. I really hate how our world is becoming more and more closed off to our cultural treasures.

Arlyn, Me and Ji-Eun at Namdaemun, November 2008.

Seoul's historic gate destroyed - CNN.com

2008-02-11T13:01:00.001-05:00

Seoul's historic gate destroyed - CNN.com

Namdaemun Outlived War, Colonialism - Korea Times

My God. I don't know what to think about this. This is Korea's #1 National Treasure, one of the most important icons of Korean National Identity and if you know anything about Korea's struggle with identity you would know what a huge blow this is for the Korean people. It would be the equivalent of the White House burning down.

Wow, this hurts.

Sooyeong Yaru Mask Dance

2008-01-27T13:17:00.000-05:00

Just trying out this feature on Blogger to see how movies are uploaded on the blog.

This is the Sooyeong Yaru Mask Dance from the Andong Mask Festival. Andong is Amy's hometown, btw.

The Mask Dance is distinctly Korean and honestly, I could only stand so much of it. As someone who is untrained to really appreciate the nuances of the Mask Dance, I had difficulty really appreciating it. The constant beating of the instruments started sounding the same after a while and it really didn't help that I could not understand what the characters were saying. They did have on the side wall in English what the plot was and general information about the specific Mask Dance. I was told by my Korean friends that they also found it to be a bit boring.

I suppose Mask Dances like these are excellent from a cultural and historical context, similar to Shakespeare's works. I would say that the average person would say that they find Shakespeare's works boring as well.

Am I glad I got to see it? Yes, I am. This is something distinctly Korean and part of the Korean cultural identity.

My philosophy is that, just because I don't like something now, doesn't mean I won't appreciate it later. I'm sure that many of you can relate to that. I mean geez, how many times as a kid were you all pissed off about some event that your parents dragged you to and you SO did not want to go, and yet afterward you realized how lucky you really were to get to experience that event?

I really am trying to live my life now, where I find myself saying less and less, "Man, I should have done that." And I think I'm doing a pretty good job at it. How about you?

Korea: Week 18 - Farewells

2008-01-27T13:11:00.001-05:00

I know you all are wanting to see my China pictures but tough! I've managed to get them organized by days, but honestly, I don't know where half the places we went to, so I'm in the process of looking up the names of these places so I can name them accurately. But you know, maybe I should just leave them un-named so you all will know just how confused I was. haha

So last time I left off, I had about 2 weeks left of school left. During this time, I tried to fit in things as I could, attend farewell parties, and study for exams.

In the beginning of the week, I attended a special exhibition that was a Keimyung University. It was Tomb Treasures from China. Pretty cool exhibition, there was like next to NOTHING in English, so at the end where the gift shop was located, I bought an English book describing all the treasures with pictures, only 5,000 Won. Hey anyone want to translate for me? haha

In one room, there was this student who spoke English and so he came over and told me some pretty cool stuff about the exhibition. That was awesome.

So I was looking at this Unicorn, sort of surprised that Unicorns were also in Asian folklore, and then he told me that in Asia, the Unicorn is something to be feared. O_O So I asked "What?!", and he told me that the Unicorn only cares about the truth and if you should ever lie, the Unicorn would come and EAT YOU UP. No matter what the reasoning for the lie, it could be a white lie or you could lie to save your family, the Unicorn will come and eat you up. Yeesh, no wonder it is feared. Lighten up Unicorn!

One of the coolest things was a model of a parade. All the figures were all different and all the horses were different as well. I found out after I took a couple of pictures that I wasn't allowed to, oops, so we have a couple of pictures anyway. Hey, there wasn't any signs that said "No cameras." So anyway, that's why I don't have any pictures of it.

Another interesting creature they had tons of statues of was the Chimera, which just means a mix of two totally different species. According to this academic website, Chimera is connected to Confucianism tradition. "...Therefore, it symbolizes Confucian values such as kindness and compassion. ...The chimera represents Confucian ideals, making it a nonviolent creature." Pretty interesting for a somewhat menacing looking creature.

Anyway, I enjoyed the exhibition. :o)

Later on, Hyo Kyung (a.k.a. Julie) invited a group of us to her apartment to teach us how to cook some Korean dishes. First we went to Home Plus (an European Superstore Chain) and bought a lot of food. Can you believe all the different types of dried seaweed?

And they have loads of already prepared Kimchi. Yes, there are several HUNDRED varieties of Kimchi. Yummy, yummy Kimchi (ok but not for breakfast, my tummy doesn't do spicy in the AM).

We were wasting time in Home Plus, so Julie and Seumn were testing out the candy cell phones. haha

We were then met by Tea and Angela in the Subway and headed off to Julie's place. There Julie taught us how to make Kimbap (Korean versions of California Rolls) and Denjeon soup (Tofu soup that tastes similar to Miso but a little spicier - one of my favorite soups). Here is Seomn showing us how to make Kimbap.

Here is us enjoying the food we just learned how to cook up. YUM! Julie is currently abroad in London studying. She wants to be a flight attendant for a European airline, because Asian airlines only hires young and beautiful women and after they turn 30 or so, they are let go. With European airlines, she figures, she can have a longer career. Plus, she just screams "European," she is very classy. I wish her much luck in her life's journey.

The next set of pictures are from the last day of classes. Here is Dr. Finch's notes from Korean History class. See...easy to follow...this is the time period leading up to Korea's occupation by Japan.

This is our last day of Korean Language class with Ms Ryu. She was holding back tears the entire time. She gave us little presents (Traditional things from Korea like Korean Masks, cell phone holders, chocolates, Korean letter stickers, and a bookmark) which is just absolutely nice of her. She also gave everyone postcards on which we were suppose to write in Korean or any language besides English (NOT FAIR) about each person. That was pretty cool. Then she ran off afterwards, I guess so we wouldn't see her cry. So we as a class thought that we needed to thank her, so we decided to have a surprise "Thank you dinner" in her honor. Pictures of that the next week. She was just an awesome teacher and really a beautiful person.

So afterward, I met with my English Conversation Group. They wanted to take me out to lunch to thank me for working with them. So we all went out to have some Sam Gibsa, which is BBQ pork belly. YUMMY! This is something that is most definitely Korean and something that I highly recommend to all Westerner (who aren't vegetarian) to try when in Korea. A definite MUST. So here's the group. LOL James is a nut, and Ji-Hye & Matt are sitting next to me so you can't see them.

Ah, here's me and Ji-Hye! Peace!

What was really cool and super nice of them, was that they got me some presents, which they totally didn't have to, but they did. They bought me two little Korean models. Which I love models, something they didn't even know I liked, so talk about a really good guess with picking out presents! One model is of a Korean traditional mill house and another was of a Korean traditional home, like the one we stayed in at Andong. I was very pleased and thrilled to have these two presents. They're on the slow boat back to me as we speak.

You know, as a side note, I think it would be really awesome if I could actually build one of these traditional Korean houses here in the US. Now wouldn't that be a sight up in the mountains of Tennessee or Virginia? My dream anyway.

This is us outside the restaurant. I wouldn't see Rachel again, but I would see the rest of them at the going away party for the students the next week.

I really miss them.

Afterward, Matt and I headed downtown and went to a couple of bookstores. On the prowl for some Anime books to help us practice our Korean while in the US. I bought tons of books, they're on the slow boat making its way to me. Yes, I had to ship 3 boxes worth of treasures back to the US AND I had a to pay over $260 for my extra baggage on the plane. LOL Americans don't travel light, that's for sure. ;o)

We then made a mad rush back to the University to make the International Office's Farewell party. We all got people to fill out our Chingu Chek (Friend book) and took some final pictures. They had a slideshow of all the activities we did together on the wall. There was our Korean Traditional Painting class and Irina and Wei Ja filling out someone's friend book.

One thing I thought was pretty interesting was the fact that some students, I just never got to know at all. Like the Japanese group. I never had any interactions with them, as they were never in any of my classes and didn't live in the same dorm as us (they lived in the Japanese dorm). There was this one girl, who cracked me up, I have dubbed her Ms High Fashion. She was so high fashion that she appeared out of fashion at times. She was shorter than me and honestly reminded me of a "Honey" Anime character. Honey Anime characters are those who regardless of their age, appear and act like they are pubescent. I was amused by the amount of guys that seem to flock to her like bugs to a light. Definitely super high on the cuteness scale.

It was just great getting shots of all the friends we've manage to make during this time. Here is So Jeong, Heini, and Eun Young. We keep in touch through Facebook.

Oh yes, can't forget the BIG THREE. Russia (Nikolay), China (Gan Ning) and the US (Matt), together in one shot. See, we all CAN be friends. :o)

A great bunch of people, and I am just so very blessed to have met and gotten to know the people that are. All of these people are just amazing and talented.

I think the person who amazes me the most is Nikolay. I'm sure I have mentioned this fact over and over, but I am that much in awe of this young man. He taught himself English for a mere 2 months and then went to a foreign country to learn that country's language through another foreign language. Absolutely amazing, and as far as I'm concerned, off the charts for courage.

Angela and I got to know him better when we went shopping for traditional Korean gifts before we left Korea. Nikolay lives in an apartment with his mother and brother. He didn't mention his father so I am assuming the father is out of the picture. His mother is a doctor in St. Petersburg. She gets paid $1,000 a month, rent is $1,200 a month, and she has three mouths to feed. How he managed to go to College AND study abroad is a mystery to me. One thing for certain, he is not one to let anything prevent him from doing anything he wants to do. This is definitely a young man who will go far in his life.

MORE PICTURES

For those wondering... (clutter control)

2008-01-13T00:35:00.001-05:00

...what little Jenn's been up to, well, let's just say she's been trying to find herself.

As someone who travels A LOT, I am usually not bothered by time changes. This time around, I really have been. Looking back on my various travels, I have to admit that for the most part that I am only gone for a maximum of like 2 weeks, if that. This time around has been 4 months and boy has it been rough.

After about 13 hours of just traveling (Korea to Japan to Detroit to Richmond), I did nothing but sleep once I got back to my parents place. I'm talking I went to bed at 8 pm and didn't wake up until 4 pm the next day. Then went to bed around 9 pm and slept until 11 am the next day. Pretty much have been keeping that sort of schedule the past couple of weeks.

Not only that, but I just felt all out of sorts. Just didn't feel like myself. I wasn't really sad about leaving Korea and it wasn't like I was excited about being back in the US either. I really just felt like a TV set that wasn't quite in tune, a bit static-y. I was suppose to go and hang out at my sister's place for New Years and I just couldn't handle it, I just felt too bombarded by stimuli and just felt so depressed. I couldn't rationalize why I was feeling this way, I just was.

I thought that perhaps the best place for me to be is back at my home but it wasn't. I had caught my roommate off guard by coming home so early and she was in the middle of a full blown cleaning. Stuff was everywhere and I did the only thing I could to save my sanity, retreat into my room and hide until I could get back in tune.

I was just so frustrated and angry with myself. My powerful, highly rational mind could not logically understand why I was just so miserable and just crying with no reason or purpose behind it. It wasn't until a couple of days later that I really felt like I just finally snapped out of it and felt like normal Jenn.

During the meantime, I've been relaxing and also going through my things throwing out things I no longer need anymore. The one thing that I realized in Korea was how to live simply. While in Korea, the only things that I needed were 1) money, 2) my camera, 3) my laptop, and 4) my cell phone (my peace of mind). Everything else were nice but not something I was too stressed over. Sure, I needed clothes but it wasn't like I would be too upset if I didn't have a specific pair of jeans or a certain sweatshirt. In other words, I wasn't really attached to them, they were just things that were helpful but I wasn't going to cry for days if I lost anything.

When I got back home, I looked around my room and realized that I had allowed my possessions to possess me. I had clothing that I never wore but I HAD to keep them because I would wear it eventually. Or clothing that I could throw out but never did because they were still in "good" condition. Stuffed animals that were hidden in the back of my closet that I had totally forgotten about for months. CDs that I never listen to but yet have them because they remind me of my childhood. And tons of almost empty notepads, pens, and the like, all sitting around my room just cluttering up the place. And now, I was bringing more things from my travels into my room.

More clutter?

So during the past couple of weeks, I have gone through my room and cleared a lot of things out of my room. If it wasn't useful or if it didn't have some sort of value, it was tossed out. I still have two boxes of things to figure out what to do with it in my room and will need to clear off my study desk in preparation for next semester. As I will be gone from 7 am until 7 pm Monday through Friday, there really isn't time for me to deal with all this clutter. I am going to need simplicity and efficiency if I am going to make it through next semester.

Today, roomie and I went through and cleared half of the basement. The basement has been a place we both had been dreading because of all the crap that has accumulated over the years and also had things left from the previous owners. And let's be honest, who really wants to clean up other people's garbage?

I have to say, with each cluster of things I throw out of my home, I feel like a heavy chain just snaps off of me. Hmm...interesting, I just had a vision of the ghost of Jacob Marley from A Christmas Carol pop into my head. I guess that's right, Marley did carry heavy chains of all the things that he was too stingy and too attached to let go of in his earthly existence.

Amazon.com: A Christmas Carol: Books: Charles Dickens

ISBN: 1580495796
ISBN-13: 9781580495790

Don't get me wrong, I still have a lot of things, but these things actually mean something to me or are things that aren't quite ready to make their way out the door yet. However, my attitude toward my things are shifting. They are merely objects that beautify or enrich my life, but they are not me.

Happy Holidays!

2007-12-25T19:21:00.000-05:00

I wanted to let everyone know that I am safe and sound in the US. :o)

I'm currently relaxing at my little sis's place until I make my way back home. As she's got a pretty detailed schedule of things she wants to do with me, I would say that my attempts at writing a couple more entries isn't really going to happen until after I get back home. I know you all are dying to see the rest of the 800 or so pictures that I've got from the last couple weeks in Korea and of course, my wonderful surprise trip to China.

I wish everyone the very best and want everyone to have a wonderful New Year in 2008.

I challenge everyone to attempt at least ONE of their dreams in 2008. Trust me, you'll be glad you did.

I'm back in Korea

2007-12-19T19:38:00.001-05:00

Just wanted to let you all know that I've returned safely from my trip to China and am spending the remaining days trying to quickly pick up things that I've forgotten to pick up and to find another bag to FIT all the stuff I've accumulated!!

Plus, after seeing a Chinese Medicine Doctor in China, my Aunt has decided that I need to see an acupuncturist before heading back to the US. According to the doctor, I have contaminants in my blood and that's the reason why my neck and shoulders are so tight. Looks like I will be seeing Gwen for some Burdock when I get back! The contaminants are from eating too much meat. :oP Another hint to eat more veggies? Another thing the doctor also said, I have to loose weight or my knees will eventually go bad. Kinda a no brainer. So at 12 today, we're going to see an acupuncturist. Yippie!

Tomorrow, at 11 am Korean time, I will be on my way back to the States. I'm not too sad, I know that I will be returning to Korea. There is still a lot of things I want to do, but I did learn a lot about Korea and myself on this trip. Which was my goal. While on the plane, I will actually have a lot of time to reflect on this a lot more.

Also, don't worry, I'll post the rest of my adventures when I get back to the US. I have TONS of pictures of China. Muhahahahaha and of course, all the pictures I have of the going away parties. :o)

"Be Brave" - Keimyung University's International Lounge Motto

So long, and thanks for all the fish...

2007-12-14T08:37:00.000-05:00

The title is a reference to an American Geek novel called, "Hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy" for all my non-geek friends. ;o)

Last night was my last night with my friends at Keimyung University. I will have pictures uploaded later, once I'm back in the US.

I did want to say Thank you and that I will miss everyone. I have had so much fun this semester and honestly, I wouldn't change anything. I got to do things that I've always wanted to do and things that I never knew I wanted to do. I have so many wonderful memories and so many wonderful friends out of this experience.

I honestly don't know how I managed to hold it together with everyone getting teary around me, but I managed it until my Uncle suggested I take one last picture in front of the dormitory and Angela yells out the window, "Jenn, you've done it. I am now crying!" It was at that point, the tears fell and the camera snapped.

I will never forget everyone. This has been one of the best experiences of my life and it's just getting better and better.

I'm getting to see the Great Wall of China and the Forbidden City in just a couple of days. And while, I won't be able to see the Comfort Women when I return to Korea from my China trip because we're flying out of Busan instead of Seoul, but I will be able to see my Korean family members before I leave and that honestly is just as important.

I want to write more but I can't hardly see. Thank you and take care.

Wow! I'm blessed!

2007-12-12T03:21:00.001-05:00

So I've been informed by my cousin, that her Dad wants to give me a going away present. A trip to Beijing. O_O Unbelievable! All I had to do is pay for my China visa (130,000 Won, a "special" price for just Americans, the EU only has to pay 30,000 Won, but I digress) because we're limited on time and they'll pay me back for it later. I only had 150,000 Won left so that pretty much tapped me out, but no worries, I have money coming in from the English Camp I did on Saturday either today or tomorrow and on Friday, I get money from CCAP and the Dormitory deposit. :o)

So China, here I come!! Our flight is sometime on Saturday and we are going to return back to Seoul on Tuesday. :o) Which means that there is a very good probability that I can attend the Comfort Women Demonstration on Wednesday.

Apparently EVERY WEDNESDAY since January 8, 199, at 12 Noon, these women protest outside the Japanese Embassy in downtown Seoul. I am going to see about attending this protest, or at the very least, go and visit the Museum at the "House of Sharing."

The House of Sharing is a home to 9 living comfort women, particularly the ones who are unable to really live by themselves. Their website has rather confusing information concerning directions to their place, as in they only have a rather cryptic bus schedule and no way of contacting people, so I've e-mailed the folks at The Korean Council for the Women Drafted for Military Sexual Slavery by Japan (geez, could their name be longer?) to see if they can't give me some information.

I feel somewhat pacified knowing I will be able to be in the presence of these courageous women before I leave Korea...but more importantly, before they leave.

Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it. - George Santayana

"Comfort Women"

2007-12-11T11:44:00.001-05:00

I honestly don't know why all of a sudden I find myself unable to stop researching this horrid topic, especially when I have FINALS to thinking about. We briefly spoke about it in Korean History class, but all of a sudden I just have to find out more information, as if time is running out.

Then again, time is running out for the couple hundred "comfort women" who are still alive. The few remaining women are in their late 70's and 80's and their numbers are dwindling every year.

For those who don't know what I am talking about, a little background information. "Comfort women" were women who were forced into sexual slavery for the Japanese Army during the World War II time period. This is one of the reasons why Japan is still seen in such a negative light across most of Asia, but mostly because they refuse to apologize and/or admit that they even committed these acts. (Don't believe me? Check this Japanese guy's blog.)

After reading some pretty horrific testimonials from various women on the Korean Council for the Women Drafted for Military Sexual Slavery by Japan, I was compelled to find out more information about what was happening now. I noticed that the US House of Representatives passed House Resolution 121 on July 30, 2007.

Turns out two other countries (The Netherlands and Canada) have also have passed similar resolutions. These two countries adding that Japanese Government pay these women. What really kept striking me was the following statements:

refrain from any declaration that will devalue the 1993 declaration of remorse

So this obviously lead me to another bunny trail. Turns out that the House Resolution 121 was also sparked by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe who told reporters, "no evidence to prove there was coercion." He's since apologized for his comment, but not for anything else, as he stated there was already a formal apology made in 1993.

What I don't get is that these women's testimonies are not considered "evidence." Nor is the fact that these women's bodies have the scars from being cut with knives, from being beaten, the sexually transmitted diseases they have had to live with, or being permanently sterilized.

The Koreans were not the only group to be targeted. Probably the most horrific stories that I have read are actually from China. The Rape of Nanjing. Nanjing is a city, btw. I warn you, do not click on this link if you are sensitive to graphic pictures of mutilation, but these are actual historical pictures of the aftermath of what happened in the city. Apparently, it was because of the Rape of Nanjing, that the Imperial Japanese Army started to set up these Comfort Stations.

And honestly, I can go on, but seeing how I don't nightmares tonight, I am stopping.

I feel a bit helpless, I want to help these elderly women. Many live alone because they couldn't stand to be around men afterwards or because they were not able to have children anymore. And many of these women are unable to hold jobs. It's because of that, I wonder if some of these women are the ones who are on the street selling vegetables from their gardens to make ends meet? I wonder if they ever got psychological help? Were they able to go to the hospitals to get treatment for their bodily traumas?

Seoul Thanksgiving

2007-12-10T01:09:00.001-05:00

Ah yes, Thanksgiving in Seoul. After Korean Culture class, Matt and I made our way to 동대구 to meet up with Ji-Eun. We stopped at the Underground Shopping Center so I could pick up some Krispy Kreme Donuts for the trip up and also to share with Arlyn and her family. The KK just opened in Daegu and the lines are usually CRAZY but on that day, I don't know if I was lucky or what, but I got through in like 3 minutes.

On our way to the train station, we bumped into one of Matt's friends from last semester. Who was actually trying to get to Camp Casey to see if they couldn't somehow hire him so he could stay in Korea a bit longer. I don't know why he waited until the day before his flight but hey, apparently this guy has had amazing luck staying in the country so far. I think his girlfriend was a bit depressed with the prospect that he might not be able to pull it off again for the 3rd time. Turns out, he couldn't pull it off and had to go back to the US but is looking into ways to get back to Korea. I couldn't remember what Matt said, I think he was a Korean adoptee from America or he was a half & half. Nice couple though.

So after getting some coffee to go with our donuts, we waited for Ji-Eun to arrive and then catch the next train to Seoul. We didn't have to wait long. Turns out Imo gave tons of snacks to Ji-Eun, yogurt drinks, Korean sweet potatoes, and some other snacks that I can't recall right now. Let's just say there really was no worries about us starving.

Matt was kind enough to be our tour guide to Arlyn's place. He met up with his friend Steve, who is actually half-Korean and half-Chinese, from America. Once we got to Arlyn's place, we feasted on Turkey, Ham, Mashed Potatoes, Gravy, cranberry jelly, rolls, stuffing, some noodles, and well, the list goes on.

Ji-Eun actually preferred Ham over Turkey, but she REALLY loved Arlyn's noodle dish. I can't remember what it's called but I'm sure she'll let me know. ;o)

The kids really latched on to Ji-Eun, the poor thing. I think she has her Pokemon fix for the next 5 years. LOL

The next day, we went shopping. We went to 남대문시장, a.k.a. Namdaemun Market (Nam-South, Daemun-Gate, Sijang-Market). Aren't they a good looking family?

So we went around the market looking for Korean gifts and other things to buy. The dancing Santas were a little bit scary. The kids were fascinated by the various turtles you could buy. I gotta say the Asian turtles are really interesting looking, I swear they look like are soft shelled.

So after a couple of hours, we split from Arlyn and met up with some relatives. We had to kill some time and the fact that it was POURING down rain, we escaped into a PC Bong. Which is just an Internet Cafe. We were there for like an hour or so and it just cost us like 3,000 Won for the both of us. They had a smoking and a non-smoking section, really comfy chairs, posters of various online PC games on the walls, a snack and drink bar, high speed internet and of course, state of the art computers. A true gamer geek heaven.

Our relatives arrived, and so we made our way to meet up with them. They both are computer designers for a computer gaming company, which for some reason, I can't remember! ARG! They met at work and got married, the guy is Ji-Eun's cousin. They took us to this really cool Japanese Restaurant that was in this art district of Seoul. I would say it's similar to Ghent in Norfolk, or Cary Street in Richmond, or Georgetown in Washington DC.

So we had some really yummy BEEF that was sizzling over your own personal wood stove. I think the word has gotten out in my Korean family that I'm partial to BEEF. LOL My hunch was correct for I was told that was the reason why they picked this particular place, it has the best beef. Oh man, my mouth is still drooling over the quality and texture of this meat.

We then went to a cute little coffee shop, which I can't believe I don't have any pictures of. Odd. Again, very artsy and cute. All I could think about was how much my little Kimbo would love to be here. Next time Kimbo!!

Ji-Eun really wanted to check out some street called "Rodeo" in Seoul that is suppose to have some really awesome shopping, so we went there after saying our goodbyes to our super cool cousins. After walking for like close to an hour, we finally got there.

There was a lot of import type stores located in this area and A LOT of bars. Other than that, not really all that interesting. Didn't help that the stores were pretty much all closed.

I did think that a couple of stores might want to rethink their store names.

Oh and this little place made me think of Patty! hahaha

So the next day, we headed to a bookstore called Seoul Selection, that is suppose to carry the largest selection of Korean History/Culture books in English, and turns out in French and German too. We all bought a couple of books, except Ji-Eun. I think her head was about to explode from all the English. haha

Nearby was 인사동 (Insadong) which is pretty much a tourist mecca. Everything there was SO much more expensive than Namdaemun but if you really want to find some art, especially Korean Pottery, this is the place to go. Walking around, we noticed this little shop.

Geez, you think you could tell your own sister you had an art shop in downtown Seoul! ;o)

We had Sam Gip Sa, which is basically pork belly, for lunch. Think large chunks of bacon meat. Yummy! The kids really liked it, which was good, because I was worried they'd hate it. It was all good.

So while we were headed back to the subway, we happened to notice that there were the "Free Hugs" people around. I'm not really sure why they have this, but in Korea, there are these groups of people usually people in their early 20's who give free hugs to people. Their way of spreading joy, I guess. So the kids and also Ji-Eun got their free hugs.

Next stop was 이태원 a.k.a. Itaewon. This is basically foreigner town. It is right next to Yongsan Military Base. I didn't like Itaewon, it was rather dirty as in trash, and cluttered, and very Americanized. To quote Ji-Eun, "Wow, this is Korea, but not Korea." Korean is hardly spoken here, the dominant language is actually English.

As we were walking around the area, they have people who hand out advertisements, which is not a big deal, I usually tell them no thank you and they leave me alone. This one guy though!! He was handing out coupons to some Indian restaurant and considering I am not a fan of Indian food except for Nan bread, I said no thank you. He was amazed that I would say "No, thank you."

"Excuse me! This is for Indian food."

"Yeah, I know, no thank you."

"What?! Excuse me, what nationality are you? Aren't you Indian?"

"Um...No, I am not."

"Are you sure? You look like an Indian."

"Well, I'm not."

"Where are you from? What nationality are you? You look Indian to me." Staring at me really intently as if trying to look at my DNA.

"I'm American. I am half-Korean and half-white. I am NOT INDIAN." I'm starting to get a little bit annoyed here, as if I don't know what ethnicity I am composed of.

"Oh...interesting...you look like people from where I'm from in India." Still staring, now in wonderment and disbelief.

Green light for pedestrians at the crosswalk and I make my way quickly across the street. Feeling his eyes boring into my back. This sort of exchange is actually somewhat typical for me. Seriously, I get this sort of conversation at least once a year.

So after a little quick tour, we headed back to the apartment and took a nap until Matt and Steve showed up. Someone was really tired. ;o)

We were meeting up with them to go onto the base for some AMERICAN FAST FOOD! Authentic American Fast Food, not the Korean interpretation of it either! So Ji-Eun and I ordered a slice of New York Style pizza, one pepperoni, the other sausage. The Hot Dog machine was out of order. So we headed over to Taco Bell and got Tacos, Quesadillas, and Nacho Grande. mmm

The next day, we headed back on base and ate at a buffet. Ji-Eun was going through some kimchi withdrawls, 3 days without kimchi and she's freaking out. Since a lot of soldiers were actually married to Koreans, they actually had kimchi and rice at the buffet. Definitely let Mom know that she's going to have to supply these two with a rice cooker and kimchi when they come to the US to study. LOL

I was a bit delayed heading to the train station to meet up with Matt. I had taken a nap and was also trying to fit everything into my luggage, so was running a bit late. Matt had been there WAY early, so he was a bit cranky, which would so be me if I was in the reverse position. Plus we had missed each other a couple of times trying to find each other. See, this is why cell phones are necessary!

The next train back to Daegu was full up, so we had to wait an hour for the next train, which was fine as this would give us some time to grab something to eat.

Once back in Daegu, we were stopped by the sweet smell of this bread.

I guess bread isn't the right word, it's more like cake, but not. And is in the shape of corn and has this vanilla type cream in the center of it. OHMIGOD is it good. Seems like whenever Matt and I travel together we end up getting some of this cake. LOL Good stuff!

Ok that's the end of this blog entry.

More pictures can be found here.

Korean Folk Art Class

2007-12-09T23:34:00.001-05:00

So I've sorta given up on trying to stay in order, too much to try to recall and too much going on. So you're gonna get things as I recall them.

So the last two Korean Traditional Art Classes were dealing with Korean Traditional Dolls and also, Straw Crafts.

The Korean Traditional Dolls were really quite fun. It use to be that you'd have to make your doll out of like I guess paper machete type stuff, which would take 3 months or so just to get the body shape, THEN you could start dressing it up. Seeing how we didn't have that kind of time, we were given this new stuff. Which basically is a mold of the dolls that has been engineered to make it be have like the real stuff.

I swear it looks like Mr. Lee is looking over my doll's shoulder. ;o) So here is how our doll started off. We were given a choice between a girl or a boy doll. Everyone went with a girl doll because let's face it, the men's clothing is a bit boring in comparison.

So, the class had me, Tea, Hanna, Mr. Lee, and the teacher. Here's a picture of Hanna working.

So basically you take Korean paper and rip it into small pieces and glue it onto this doll. You would think that by gluing layers on top of layers that it would be a bit bulky in some place than others, but honestly not the case. I was really surprised about that. The teacher said it was because of this type of Korean art paper. Now I can see why the Chinese wanted this paper in addition to all those Korean dancing girls for their tributes from Korea. haha

So here's my finished doll. The teacher was kind enough to make us each ponytails for our dolls. You can see the teacher's example behind my doll.

So here is the little village of Korean dolls. The one with the Red top, orange belt and black dress is Tea's doll, the one with the greenish-blue colored shirt and brown/purple colored dress is Hanna's doll, and my doll is of course, the Blue shirt and green skirt. The rest of the dolls is what the teacher made. I wasn't really sure what he was working on this time around, I think that he was making either Shrek or Frankenstein.

So the final class, we did straw crafts. This time around it was just Tea, Me, Mr. Lee and the teacher. We made straw head cushions. These items were used and probably are still used for when people have to carry things on their head, such as a large container of water.

So a holder made by a professional looks something like this:

The teacher than showed us this really just puffed up thing that really looked like a bird nest more than anything and said that this is probably what ours is probably going to look like. The example he showed us belonged to the Korean Keimyung University students. So Tea and I tried to do our best, here's a picture of mine.

The teacher was just astonished with how good our holders were, especially Tea's holder. He actually ran out and went to get his camera so he could take a picture of ours so he could shame the Korean students. LOL While we were taking picture, he just kept complaining about the Korean students, it was kinda funny how he was just mumbling the entire time, and we'd look to Mr. Lee for a translation and he'd just shrug and say, "He's still complaining about the Korean students." LOL

So here's me and Tea trying out our little creations. The long string that you bite is to keep it from falling off your head and into whatever it was you were pouring into.

The teacher also made us little brooms that he said we could put on our cell phones but I think it's a bit too big for that. He also made us a little egg basket. The one he made us is more ornamental than actually practical but he said we could figure it out if we wanted to make a bigger one that could hold real eggs in it.

Hmm...maybe later huh? ;o)

So concludes my introduction to Korean Traditional Folk Art. I really am very thankful for given the opportunity to actually participate in something like this. :o)

PICTURES OF THE STRAW ART CLASS HERE.

If Exam Week, then Procrastinate....

2007-12-09T23:00:00.001-05:00

Well, last night, I was up until 4 am finishing up a take home exam for my "Human Thinking" class. I'm SO glad it was a take home exam, I would have been screwed if I only had one hour to take this exam. Just so you all know, I started this exam around 7 pm. I had to teach myself about "Truth Trees" as it was on the exam and the teacher did not cover it in class. The only thing I have in my notes is, "Look up information about Truth Trees on your own." O_O

I spent a good couple of hours just trying to find information that was written in a manner that I could UNDERSTAND! I was getting rather frustrated that these "Truth Trees" are suppose to the first steps of Calculus and here I've taken like 5 different kinds of Calculus and couldn't understand WTH they were talking about.

No, the exam isn't due today, silly sleepy head. It's actually due on Wednesday, but I'm one of those people, if I get on a roll, I best continue or it takes forever for me to get back to speed.

Also, I don't have an exam on Monday. I have Korean Culture on Tuesday, Korean Language on Wednesday, Human Thinking on Wednesday, and my last exam is Korean History on Thursday.

On Wednesday night, we're going to take our Korean Language teacher out to dinner. She's so incredibly sweet. On our last day of official class, she actually looked like she was going to burst into tears. She managed to hold it together though. She also has us sign cards for each other, and we were allowed to write in any language except ENGLISH! How is that fair?! After it took about 5 minutes to write two lines, I gave up and started writing in English. Except for the teacher's card, of course, I wrote in Korean. She'll have a good laugh for years to come. ;o)

She also gave everyone in the class a little gift bag, in it there was some Korean Letter stickers, candy, a little cell phone thingy, and a little Korean Mask.

I had a couple days earlier gotten "Thank you" cards for the International Office, Dr. Finch (Korean History & Culture), and our Korean Language Teacher. I am still trying to round up people to sign the cards, but the International Office's card has already gone to them, at the Farewell Party on Friday. They gave us Christmas cards and a Keimyung Desk Calendar. It was really nice of them.

I got the idea of the 친구 책 (ching-gu chaek) or friend book from Tea, and apparently everyone else too. So I've been doing around getting people to sign my little book. It's been really fun. I plan on printing out pictures of people's heads and pasting them next to their little comments. This way I can remember who was who. I am getting up in age after all. ;o) Also, this is the reason why I have this blog as well. Gotta have something to remind me of all the little things that are easily forgotten.

I really am going to miss everyone.

Ice Skating Anyone?

2007-12-03T03:37:00.001-05:00

Two weeks ago, my English Conversation Group announced that we were going to go ice skating! I haven't been ice skating since I was 12 or so, and then I seemed to recall that I crawled around the rink on my knees because we were only allowed to go in one directions and I couldn't get back on my skates. -.-

But hey, I'm in Korea, that's pretty much as close to Vegas as I'm going to get right now. So what happens in Korea...ends up in my blog. But I'm willing to poke fun of myself now and then, so I was game.

We arrived at the rink and was informed that there was over 500 elementary school students ice skating but they would be gone after 15 minutes. So we went in and I couldn't believe my eyes. The pictures really don't do the actual scene justice. The video on the other hand, does. I'll figure that one out later.

So here's a picture of one side, trust me, there was a lot more students that the camera just couldn't fit in!

So we waited about 15 minutes and turns out they weren't really planning on leaving any time soon! What?! So we had to go out there and skate with them. You can kinda see Ji-Hye skating there with all the kids swarming around her.

So I being extremely rusty, made my way to the ice and actually managed to stay on my skates and pick up some speed. I wasn't really willing to give up the comfort and safety of the side walls but I managed to go around a couple of times in my bright yellow hat. Hey, I'm willing to sacrifice fashion for safety!

Now trying to skate with all these little people swarming around you, it rather precarious. I had a couple of little kids about take me out. Two people who can't skate very well = bad situation. I was able to actually catch the kid who was about to fall in front of me a couple of times so they wouldn't become a hurdle for me. Here's a picture of Bruce, just to show you how crowded the ice was.

There was so many kids that a couple of times, I just got off the ice and was hanging out outside the rink. That is, until the kids realized I was American. One boy looked at me and said, "Hello." To which I responded, "Hello." And he blinked, actually surprised that I was American. Then he disappeared and the next thing I knew, there are 5 kids staring at me and whispering, "Mee-guk" something. Mee-guk, 미국, means American. Those 5 kids started to gather more kids, so I escaped back onto the ice.

One little boy followed me around the ice. I managed to escape into my group and told them about the little boy, who was following me around like a puppy, which was rather humorous as he was a worse skater than me. I should have gotten a picture of my little stalker, ah well. He eventually got bored waiting for me to leave the safety of my friends and disappeared into the masses.

Well, after the kids left, the ice was now available for the 12 or so of us. There was a couple of new kids now who were learning to speed-skate and figure skate. It was really quite impressive. So here's a picture of a future Korean Olympian.

Oh and I wanted to mention a rather cool fact. Amy, actually did speed-skating in elementary school and middle school, but had to give it up in High School. She's still a pretty awesome skater, she was helping me and Rachel quite a bit. Don't they look like they're having a blast?

This was a lot of fun!

"Could you take my survey?"

2007-12-03T03:04:00.001-05:00

Last Tuesday, I was approached by two very shy and awkward Korean students while I was with my English Language Discussion Group. They wanted to know if I could help them out, to which I answered, "Sure."

Turns out the girl was a Psychology major and she had the guy there as her support, and they wanted to know if I wouldn't mind taking a psychological questionnaire for them about social anxiety type questions that being a member of SIRL (Social Issues and Relations Lab), I was familiar with the line of questioning. So I informed the girl that I was also a Psychology major too, so I took her little questionnaire.

I was really shocked at her questionnaire, it did not meet the requirements that I recalled being drilled into my head at ETSU and also the requirements that I had to go through to get my Identity study approved! First off, the scale that was used words that even I as a Native English speaker had no clue what it was trying to measure. So I told her so, and then asked her to explain her scale to me, which she didn't understand my question and then Ji-Hye asked her in Korean what the scales meant and she just shrugged her shoulders. Not exactly comforting. Then I tried for a simpler approach. "Is 1 Good, 3 Not Good/Not Bad and 5 Bad?" "Yes," the guy said. So I wrote that to the side next to the numbers. Then while I was taking the Survey, they pretty much stood over my shoulder while I was taking it...watching me...

OK that's another big NO, NO, for Psychological testing. You don't watch your subjects taking the test unless that's what you're testing, "the comfort level of test taking participants when being examined by the examiners."

I honestly looked around the Lounge trying to find someone who might be sitting there recording my reactions, but there was no one that I could tell that was taking any notes.

A tad bit disturbing, but then again, I think she was a Freshman, so she might not have taken the Psychological testing class yet.

I hope...

Clearing my head

2007-12-01T02:32:00.001-05:00

I still have about 3 weeks left here in Korea but had an interesting exchange with Tea about going back to our respective homes. We all are looking forward to going home but we realize that there are going to be a lot of things we're going to be missing about Korea.

So many things have happened over the course of this semester. It's almost surreal. I feel like I have almost no cares in this world really. I'm just living a really simple existence. All I have to do is get up every morning and go to my classes, do my homework, and make sure I pass my exams. Everything else is just icing. Traveling, meeting new people, participating in CCAP, and the list goes on... It's all just icing.

The rest of the world, especially back home, in contrast seems very stressful, and I'm just existing in my special little protective bubble where nothing is really all that serious...except when it has to deal with my life back home.

Back home a life of chaos seems to be eagerly waiting for me at the door. "Welcome back, Jenn! Hope you had fun in Korea, because it's now time to pay the Piper." Already, I have gotten a glimpse of the chaos that awaits me and like the rest of society, the financial demon awaits my return to cause me aggravations in the course of my life.

I had gotten many grants and financial aid for my study abroad adventure, which has made it what you have been reading for the past few months. Cost of living while high in some things, mostly leisure type commodities, has been for the most part very low. For example, where in the US can you get an entire meal for the price of $2? So basically, I've been living off of less than $10 a week since I've been here. With that amount changing whenever I've gone on some trips, and yet that has usually costs around $100 for the entire trip (transportation, lodging, food and souvenirs).

Back in the US, it's another story. My bank account is slowly being sucked dry and without my father's support, it would be completely dry, paying for the lifestyle that I am not even living for the past 3 months. Car, rent, motorcycle, credit cards, phone, HEALTH insurance (don't get me on that rant) and the list unfortunately goes on.

A quick look at my bank statement and my living expenses had made me determine that I need to give up on my last semester of Psychology at ETSU and go back to my life as an Engineer. A vocation that I really enjoy, mind you. So I made some arrangements to go back to work, knowing that my salary would easily pay for my financial burdens. With that in mind, I moved forward down the path of life.

Well, the financial monster has decided to throw another fork in the road. If I don't go back to school next semester, I would have to pay back ALL the money I got for studying abroad and the loan that I got already for next semester. We're not talking chump change either! The little ray of light coming from this path is that I will have some money from a lab position.

So here I sit looking at the fork in the road, both leading to various degrees of financial chaos, each with different enriching life rewards, and yet, leading to the same conclusion in May. I'll be back in the field of Engineering.

Seeing how financially, it looks like a lose-lose situation. I've had to revisit the situation by removing the financial monster and ask myself, "What is it that you really want?" The answer that came forth was immediate, "To finish what I've started."

And that ladies and gentlemen, is a glimpse into how my brain works. Wish me luck.

Korean Pop Music (K-Pop)

2007-11-29T07:50:00.001-05:00

I know you all are just dying to know what sort of music is popular in Korea. Well, let me tell you, they sure love Justin Timberlake and Beyonce. However, home brewed Korean pop music is similar but definitely more bubble gum like.

The song that I will forever remember of my Fall in Korea will be this song:

The name of the group is called Big Bang, the name is in Konglish, which means the Korean letters spell out what it sounds like in English. So Big Bang looks like 빅뱅. The name of the song is called "Lies." The group is a bunch Korean high school students who are definitely NOT in their school uniforms.

For the first 3 months this song was EVERYWHERE! You'd walk by a music store and this song was playing, you'd walk by a Cell phone store, this song was playing, walk by a bakery, this song was playing, it didn't matter where you were at this song would be playing!

So this song has now been replaced by a group of High School girls called "The Wonder Girls" (원더걸) <-Konglish. The name of their song is called "Tell Me" (텔미) which is also in Konglish.

What is becoming rather popular is the parody videos of the cheesy "Tell Me" video. I rather like the High School guys dancing to this song. Enjoy!

Nov. 17 - Golgulsa (골굴사) Temple Stay

2007-11-29T02:19:00.001-05:00

Now for what you all have been waiting for, my entry about the Buddhist temple stay!

Korea offers you many opportunities to try your hand at Buddhist life. If you are interested at all in the experience, which honestly, I would recommend even though in all honesty, I would probably not do this again. Not because the experience was bad, it's just that I'm not cut out for waking up at 4 am every morning and I mean EVERY morning. So if you are in Korea give it a try! More information can be found at the Temple Stay website.

The website is very informative, it will tell you if the Temple has people who speaks English and what their main focus is on. I chose Golgul Temple because they spoke English and it was near Gyongju. The other girls joined me primarily because this band of monks are known as the Marital Arts Monks. Golgul Temple is the Headquarters for Sunmudo in Korea.

Here's a little video clip of the Head Buddhist Monk and a couple of Monks doings some moves in the background.

After you watch it for a while, it looks like Yoga Martial Arts and it's just amazing how they can go from one position to another.

Yet, I'm getting a little bit ahead of myself. First, we had to GET to the temple. Since there was 6 of us, there was no way we could all fit into one taxi, so we had to take 2 taxis. One group had a map and other one didn't. Unfortunately for the group with the map (my group) we had some miscommunication and ended up going to the wrong Buddhist site! So we were freaking out considering we had no way of contacting the other group and didn't know if they were at the right place or not, plus we were LATE to check-in. So after I called my Korean Buddy, Ji-Hye, and got the phone number to the place and also had her explain to the taxi driver that we wanted to go to the Temple. When we arrived, we were told that the first group had arrived about 20 minutes of so before us, so we were really comforted by that, 'cuz I was really worried about them.

Once we arrived, we were given this orange vests that we were told to wear everywhere. Here's a group picture of us in our lovely vests with a couple of Buddhists and monks. This was right before dinner around 6 pm and see how DARK it was!

We were given our room keys and we told to come back up that horrible steep hill in about 20 minutes to have dinner. We changed into our workout clothes and headed to dinner.

I gotta say the Budda dog was just too cute and I don't know how she did it, but I don't have a single picture of her looking in the direction of the camera, she's always looking away. She also attended 4:30 prayers and wasn't all that helpful with her LOUD snoring.

Anyway, we had dinner, which was basically rice, soup and vegetables, Hanna was loving it. ;o) We then made our way to the Sunmudo Training building, where we watched a video about Sunmudo and then did some more meditations and then stretching and then the actual training.

There was a lot of other people there who apparently were there to train in just Sunmudo. Our instructor was actually from France and his Korean was actually better than his English. LOL He seemed a bit frustrated that we weren't picking up on some of the "simple" movements. Let me tell you, I am really not use to being in a squat type position for very long and making your left arm move in one direction while getting your right arm to go in a totally opposite direction isn't as easy as it sounds. Afterward, we were treated to watching some highly advanced students practice their pretty awesome moves. One of the guys was from America, I don't know where the other guy was from, he was definitely a "Westerner."

Here's a picture of the little shrine area, where the head monk gave his speeches and also where we focused on during our meditations.

It was around 9 pm at this point and we were warned not to be late to 4:30 am prayer or you will have to do 3,000 bows. Yes, 3,000!! Bows aren't just the ones where you bend at the waist either, it's the kind where you start on your knees and get up and bow and then get back down on your knees to start the cycle again.

He even advised us to wake up around 3:30 am because it takes about 20 minutes to walk up the hill to the meditation center. O_O So we made our way back to our nice and warm rooms, but found out to our frustrations that we couldn't really fall asleep, knowing that we had to wake up so early. I think I finally fell asleep around 12:30.

So we grudgingly got up and make our way to the temple area in the pitch darkness and freezing cold, determined not to do the 3,000 bows. We came in and sat in the back near the dog seating area. Men sit on the right and women sit on the left side of the room. Then after 20 minutes of chanting (approx. 27 bows), we did about 40 minutes of sitting meditation with a loudly snoring dog sitting right behind us.

After waking up our hand chakras, our solar plexus chakra, and our third eye chakras, we got up and did a walking meditation. We walked in the darkness around 5 chakra hill (picture below) and then down to the stone pagota at the bottom of the 2nd hill.

Just so you guys don't think I'm such a whiny baby about all this walking, here is a picture of one of the hills that we had to walk up. Yes, it is that steep! I have no doubts that these monks have like amazing calf muscles!

So after we got to the bottom, we were told to head back to the dinning hall for our instructions on how to eat a traditional Buddhist meal. Basically get get this meal kit, which gives you 4 bowls. One Bowl is for the rice, one is for the soup, one for your sides, and one for the cleaning water. First step is to get water in the big bowl and you rinse that bowl, then you pour the water into your soup bowl and rinse the bowl, until you finally get to the last bowl, where it just stays. You aren't allowed to leave ANY food. So if you picked up something you don't like to eat or too much rice, too bad, you have to eat it ALL. Then you are suppose to be really conscious of your eating. So you can put the rice and veggies in your mouth but then you have to wait until you've completely chewed and swallowed your food before you getting and other spoonful. Nice concept, but we ended up being VERY last folks finished and everyone else was already GONE.

I think they were cheating, they weren't chewing completely before swallowing. Then there is a specific way in which you cleaned the bowls, this again using that water you had first rinsed your bowls with and then using a piece of kimchi you are to wipe the bowls up and then eat that too. My rice was rather sticky so I had some problems getting all of it on there, and I couldn't quite figure out how to use the kimchi to clean up the bowls without getting the kimchi pepper all in the water or all over the bowl. Go figure.

They said we have basically 1.5 hours of free time and to be back up the mountain for tea with the head monk. The girls headed back to the room to sleep, but I stayed and took some pictures. There was no way that I was going to go down the hill only to spend 20 minutes walking back UP the hill again. So I got some pictures of the top of the mountain and of the special Buddha carving that the temple is also famous for.

So after snapping some photos and some video, I headed back down for tea. We had tea with one of the advanced Sunmudo fighters, until the head monk arrived.

Then we sat around drinking tea and asking some questions. It's sort of unfortunate that I'm in the presence of a great thinker and fighter but I'm unable to really come up with any questions to really ask him. I need to get a question to ask people, like "What do you think is the meaning of life?" So instead we asked about how many Monks are there at Golgulsa (5 monks, 2 monks in training, rest are fighters). Where did Sunmudo come from? From India, originally part of Buddhism but was lost along the way during history but has been "found" again. Why do you have to wake up at 4:30 am? 4 am is the best time in the day for meditation. In bigger temples, they actually have 3 am prayers to take advantage of the 4 am time period.

After our little tea time, we could go on a trip which cost 5,000 Won, go horseback riding, or tour the temple area. Seeing how I had 20,000 Won and wasn't sure how much the bus ride back into Gyeonju was, plus perhaps dinner, and the bus ticket back, I chose not to go on the trip. Instead, Angela (who was in the same boat as me) and I decided to go take pictures and then head back to the room for a nap. Hanna and Heini went horseback riding. Tea and Kukka went on the trip to the other temples.

Apparently, they went to the beach because I found this odd picture in the photos that we were sharing with each other. ;o) Anyway, it was so cold that it was so nice to be able to lie down on the really hot floor and just sleep. We left the door unlocked for Heini to come in, which she did shortly after us as she was FREEZING from horseback riding. So after a nice warm snooze we came back up the mountain for lunch. I'm not really sure why I have this disgusted look on my face, but here is the rest of us having our lunch before we left.

They invited us to stay for the 3 pm Sunmudo show, but we were all so sleepy and tired that we just wanted to head back to Daegu to sleep.

Again, I gotta say I really am very glad I did this temple stay, but I'm really not cut out for the 4 am thing. The experience certainly was something I am glad that I got to do and I could see how living such a simple life makes you think about everything and where you can actually think about each movement, something as simple as eating. I already think about everything and really have to wonder just how much or how little my life would change if I lived their simple life and thought even more. It's a little bit of a scary concept to me, for I think I would lose myself in the silence of thought.

More pictures here.

Gyong-ju (경주) Trip - Nov. 16, 2007

2007-11-28T10:50:00.001-05:00

I know several of you are just dying for an update, so I figured I'd give you guys at least one entry. It took me forever to rename the photo files but it's done now. Just gotta write up the entry now to go with the pretty pictures. :o)

Now that I'm about 2 weeks off, let's see what I can do.

So on Friday, after Korean Language class, Hanna, Heini and I made our way to Gyeonju. We hopped the bus, which you have to admit 3,700 Won (~$3.70) is pretty cheap to drive an hour via bus. Shoot my taxi ride from one side of Daegu back to campus cost me 30,000 Won (~$30)!

So we made our way to the Traditional Korean Bed and Breakfast for the night. We stayed at a cute little place called Sa Rang Chae (사랑채). I most definitely recommend the place to everyone, unless you have a fear of cute friendly dogs, which to us, they really made the place. They were sooo cute!

We check in and the little one, followed us to make sure that our room was to our satisfaction. For after the little room inspection, he went away and never came by our room again. LOL

So after unpacking, we headed out to get something to eat. Heini was wanting some Samgibsa, which is basically BBQ Pork Belly. We walked along the strip and didn't see any restaurants that had the cooked meat dish, so we headed back to this one place we saw that sold Bulgogi, which is marinated Beef. Yummy! We especially liked the little "sandwiches" you could make with the lettuce leaves, rice and bulgogi. Yummy!

After eating, unfortunately the temperature was dropping, but I was determined to see some of the sites. We walked by Cheomseongdae, which was actually built during a Korean QUEEN's rein. Obviously before Confucianism got a hold of Korea...I was about to go on a rant about why I dislike Confucianism, but I stopped, aren't you happy? So, anyway, this is supposedly the oldest astronomical observatory in Asia. Which to me was rather surprising considering China, and also they built the observatory in a valley! That really didn't make much sense to me, but hey I am looking at this through 20th century eyes. Since the girls really were cold and wanted to keep moving, I just took a picture of the observatory from outside the gate. ;o)

Hanna was getting REALLY cold and wanted to go somewhere inside. So the Gyongju museum looked pretty close on the map and I knew that we could actually go inside and get some coffee or something like that to help warm us up. So we headed to the museum only to find out that it closes earlier in the winter and we missed the time by one hour. Doh!

They wanted to head back to the hotel, but seeing how we passed another site, I really wanted to take advantage of how close we were to the site. The girls relented and we went to Imhaejeon. Imhaejeon was part of a royal Silla Palace. Unfortunately, I was unable to get a really good shot, but I gotta say I rather like this effect. These two pavilions are next to a very large pond, which you can't really see in any of the photos that I took, but hey, it really is there. I wanted to get a photo but it was rather difficult for some reason.

As I was trying to get a decent shot, there was a group of young children who were walking around the place with lanterns, which I gotta say made of a slightly spooky look.

This particular palace was a sort of party palace for the Shilla Kings and Queens. This is where they greeted dignitaries and held banquets, showing off all the unusual birds and plants that they kept on the property. The actual palace itself burned in one of the many fires they seem to constantly have.

Because it was so cold and Hanna seemed to be really affected, even after I gave her my polar fleece vest to wear, we took a taxi back to the hotel. I was just amazed how cold the Finns were, especially considering where they're from, but I guess they really adapt quickly to different climates. We grabbed some snacks at a local store and then went to the little lounge area in the B&B to have a little break.

While we were there, I met a Canadian Law Student and a guy from Malaysia. They were both wanting to go to Haeinsa and wanted to know if I've been there. Seeing how the trip was going to be 4 hours one way for them and they were pretty burnt out on temples, I suggested that they go to Andong instead and check out the Mask Dance Village. I told them if they got bored of the Village, they could at least tour the Soju plant or SOMETHING else, unlike Haeinsa. I wonder if they actually took me up on my suggestion?

Anyway, the girls were tired so they went off to the room and after talking with the guys for an hour, I headed back to the room. We were all pretty much exhausted and cold, so we just slept. Although after a while, the floor was so hot and the blanket was keeping that heat in that it was starting to become a bit like an oven for me. Hanna though, had somehow sleep crawled so that her body was directly touching the hot floor. Wild!

We must have been REALLY tired, because we didn't wake up until around 9:30 am. We had breakfast and then went to meet the other girls at the bus station. Where I met a Korean Jahova's Witness who was wondering if we'd like a tour of Gyeonju. Who know what sort of tour they would have given us!

The girls weren't on the bus, so we figured they must have missed the bus, so we waited the 30 minutes for the next bus to arrive. While waiting, we went upstairs to the coffee shop. Which looked like something out of a Eastern European spy movie. I should have taken a picture of the other side of the room, but the ash trays and lighters looked like something from the 1970's and the faux leather chairs. Yeah, it was definitely interesting, here a picture of Heini and you can see the faux leather chair. Well, on the next bus, the girls were on it. Turns out the bus was full so they had to catch the next bus. They were starving and I had the map the B&B owner had written directions to a Buffet place that was 6,000 Won. Hanna was really wanting another sweater or something to keep her warm, so I suggested a path, which would lead us through a shopping area where they could find something, hopefully, and also get us closer to the food place. Unfortunately, Hanna couldn't find anything to wear that wasn't expensive, and we had some problems finding the place to eat. Turns out they moved, and we had some nice Korean High School boys, who enjoyed the fact they could speak English with us, and took us to the place to eat. See, not all teens are punks!

So we all had our fill. Hanna was the happiest because they had so many vegetarian dishes that she could just eat as much as she wanted, and everyone else didn't have any difficulties finding anything to eat, so it was good for all. We then went looking for gloves and sweaters for an hour and then we headed to the Tomb park.

So if you all paid attention to a previous entry about Gyongju, you would remember that Gyeonju was the ancient capital of the Shilla Kingdom. Therefore there are a lot of Tombs in Gyongju. We went to Tumuli Park, which was filled with Tombs and also had two tombs that you could go inside. I thought there was only one tomb so we missed going inside the other tomb unfortunately.

Inside the tomb, you could see the various layers of earth and rock to form the tombs. The tomb itself is constructed out of wood, so I really have to wonder how it was able to withstand the pressure of all that rock and earth for so long. Inside, were some artifacts and the actual grave of the King. You could see the gold and jade crown, some of the clothing and some of the remains of the mystery King. No, I don't have pictures of inside the tomb, no photos were allowed. So here's a photo of two tombs.

Just walking around the park was really awesome. The leaves were absolutely beautiful. We asked this guy to take our picture, thinking we'd get one photo but he took our group photo and then took individual picture of us. Unfortunately, my picture, I'm closing my eyes. Blah!

After walking around the park, we had to catch a taxi to the Buddhist Temple Stay. Now that was a rather interesting trip to Golgulsa, which you all will have to wait until next time to read about. Muhahahaha...

MORE PICTURES CAN BE FOUND HERE.

Knot Art Class & CCAP

2007-11-21T11:47:00.001-05:00

Well, you guys are really going to have to wait a while for the Buddhist temple stay pictures. We're looking at over 200 pictures that I have to rename and with my schedule, it ain't looking too good.

Figured at the very least I could show the pictures from Korean Knot Art class part 2 and some pictures from my 3rd CCAP, since there was only 10 pictures from those events.

So let's see, since the teacher remembered that I really wanted to know how to make the really complicated knots, she decided to do necklaces. However, because the knots are SO complicated, she just showed me like the next level of knot and how to make a new knot. I guess I would have to take knot class for at least 6 times before I would be shown how to do the dragonfly knot.

Unfortunately, I forgot to take an after picture of the necklaces. Oops, will try to get a picture from Angela and Hanna before I leave Korea. Guess which necklace I chose? Come on, just guess.

As you see, the two purple necklaces have a butterfly knot, the green necklace is a flower (forgot the name of the flower) knot and the blue one is the dragonfly knot. I chose the blue one for those guessing.

As I neglected to take pictures of us doing the various knots, here is a picture of some of the teacher's other work.

I chose this one because this is a special reproduction that she made of a Korean Queen's accessory. She purchased the metal clasps and stuff from an antique market so I'm sure that they belonged to a woman in the upper Korean society. Each strand is a special braid and as you can see 3 is the magic number here. The three different colors and then three strands to the right and three strands to the left. It's all about balance and harmony. The 2nd metal piece has two real very old tiger's teeth (which only the queen was allowed to wear) and the one on the right is actually little metal ear picks (yeah, haven't figured out WHY that would be part of your fancy dress, but ok). It took her a VERY long time to make this.

So on the following Thursday, I went participated in CCAP with Jasmine. We talked about American Thanksgiving and unfortunately, our powerpoint wouldn't come up on their computer! But luckily, Jasmine had recommended we do some sort of activity so we had a little contest to have them draw a Turkey. Which, Korean does not actually have, so a lot of the students were making Roosters, which I found humorous. But, I corrected them and they went on their merry way. Shoot, should have taken a picture of some of their art work.

Here's a picture of them working hard on drawing their Turkey's. :o) There were 58 middle school students in this class.

Afterward, the teacher asked me if I could help her out. She's having some sort of English camp on December 1st and really needed another person to help her out. Only thing I was going to do was study and do a little shopping that weekend, so I agreed to help her. I'm curious to see what it is that she wants me to help them with, she mentioned something about crafts...where's an Art Major when you need one? ;o)

More pictures HERE.

Heading to Seoul tomorrow for Turkey Day so won't be back until LATE Sunday. Later peeps!

My Schedule

2007-11-18T21:58:00.000-05:00

I've been getting a lot of questions as to what my schedule is and when I'll be coming back, so I figured I'd go ahead and post what I've got going on.

November:
16-18: Gyeongu, Golgulsa Buddhist Temple Stay (will post pictures and things soon)
20: Ice Skating with my English Conversation Group
21: Korean Doll Making
22-25: Seoul (Visiting my friend Arlyn & Shopping)

December:
1: Teaching American Culture to a bunch of Korean Middle School Kids at their English Camp; International Office Party
3: Marketing Presentation
4: Korean History & Korean Culture Papers Due
10-14: Exams
14: Exchange Student Party
15: Head to Busan
21: Fly back to the US

Figure I'll be heading back to Bristol in January, can't tell you the date just yet because there are so many things up in the air right now.

Haeinsa (해인사)

2007-11-15T10:24:00.001-05:00

Just to let you all know, my updates are probably going to get a bit sketchy. There is about 4 weeks left of school and I have A LOT of papers to write and traveling to do, so writing blog entries is going to be a bit low on my list.

So, let's see what's going on so far...Ok my head just exploded a bit, so I'm going to have to just write what the pictures are showing me.

The other day I went walking downtown Daegu looking for the electronics street, I realized this is actually what I've dubbed "Man Street." There was so many camping, military, electronics and hardware stores in one little area, it was a bit stunning.

This was just a side street next to what I've dubbed as "Teenager Street." Yeah, I was a bit surprised to see Paris Hilton promoting Fila, but then again, no I'm not.

So on to more interesting (at least for me) subject, Korean History!! My awesome English Conversation group accompanied me and Matt to Haeinsa. The ending -sa, actually means temple. So it would be redundant to say Haeinsa Temple, but I digress.

This time around Matt, joined us and we headed to the bus station with Amy and Rachel. Bruce and James were going to join us at the bus station. We grabbed some strong coffee (Amy & Rachel had partied the night before and had only 2 hours of sleep) and then bought our tickets to Haeinsa. Pretty easy bus schedule don't you think?

So on the bus, everyone snoozed a bit but spent a good amount of time watching Amy and Rachel sleep. I'm still not sure how they didn't wake each other up when they were banging heads with each other. ;o) hahaha

I gotta tell you, Korean buses, really, don't watch the bus drive drive. Just close your eyes and sleep. You *really* have to learn to trust that you'll get there alive.

So when we got off the bus, the first thing we did was find a place to eat. We had Bi-bim-bap that was really highly priced (for Korea anyway) at 6,000 Won, normally it's 2,000 Won. But hey, tourist area, what can you really expect? Then we made our way to Haeinsa. On our way there was a rather tattered building with a lot of stores inside. I thought the tree growing from the roof was rather interesting.

We then had a rather "easy" walk (shoot anything is EASY compared to Gatbawi!) to the Entrance of Haeinsa.

Isn't Amy a nut?! Talk about good timing. On our way to the 2nd gate, there was a special old tree that somehow Matt managed to climb inside.

So then we made it to the 2nd gate and I took a lot of pictures of all the freezes that I could see. I was told they are picture stories of Buddhist teachings. I'm hoping that I'll one day be able to read up on them.

Past the third gate was a Zen maze, that you walk as a meditation. So we were game and proceeded to walk around the maze. I found that putting your hand in prayer position made me feel a lot more centered and focused, especially with the little kids racing around the maze. See, Korean children are just like American children! As I was leading the way, I managed to get a couple of shots of everyone, except for Rachel, she seemed to be really good at avoiding my camera! Here's Bruce and Matt.

Then we went into the tourist information center, where we could take a really close look at two of the actual blocks of the Tripitaka Koreana (팔만 대장경).

Tripitaka means Buddhist scriptures, so think of them as pages of the Buddhist Bible. There are 81,340 wooden printing blocks craved for the 2nd time (the first set burned during the Mongolian invasion) in 1251. It took over 16 years for them to carve and preserve. They are carved by hand, BACKWARDS, in Classical Chinese. They were carved by Buddhist monks to invoke Buddha's protection, which was needed for the Mongol invasion (where it got burned) and the 2nd time for the Japanese Invasions.

Since there is no need to reinvent the wheel, here is some information from Wikipedia that was also told to me by my Korean History professor, Dr. Michael Finch.

Each block is made of birch wood from the southern islands of Korea and was treated to prevent the decay of the wood. They were soaked in sea water for three years, then cut, then boiled in salt water. Then, the blocks were placed in shade and exposed to the wind for three years at which point they would finally be ready to be carved. After each block was carved, it was covered in a poisonous lacquer to keep insects away and was framed with metal to prevent warping.

So I guess you better not lick it!

Here is another Tripitaka, the detail is amazing isn't it?!

So this is considered a world heritage artifact and due to it's importance, I just assumed that these blocks would be stored in something similar to Fort Knox. Imagine my surprise when I the storage buildings for them.

So after looking around for a bit and buying a couple of things. We made our way back to the bus station. I rather like this shot...

And took some pictures of some awesome coloring on the leaves.

And stopped to take a picture of a really BIG turtle monument.

Seriously, it is REALLY big. See...

We caught the next bus back to Daegu, where we pretty much slept the entire way back. Since we didn't have dinner, Matt and I figured everyone else would want to eat, but only James was interested in eating. Everyone else left. So the three of us found a little place to sit and eat and then promptly headed back to the dorm for a nice sleep.

On Monday, I went to Gyeonju after Korean Language class and went to Ji-Eun's Graduation Art Show. Here is Ji-Eun with her friend, Da-Hye, in front of Ji-Eun's two paintings.

Here are Da-Hye's paintings.

So afterward, we went out to lunch and then headed off to Busan. I got to watch a really good Korean movie with Ji-Eun and then headed back to Daegu in the morning. Unfortunately, I missed both of my classes on Tuesday, but it was worth it to see Ji-Eun's art show. :o)

More pictures are located here!

Happy Pepero (빼빼로) Day! (11/11)

2007-11-10T09:49:00.001-05:00

On November 11 (11/11) Koreans celebrate Pepero Day, a.k.a. Single's Day. Which basically is an awesome marketing idea invented by the makers of the popular snack (Lotte). Pepero's are also known as Pocky Sticks, a chocolate-covered cookie stick.

On this day, people buy boxes of Pepero to give to their lovers, teachers, classmates, coworkers, and pets. Think of it as type of Valentine's Day.

According to Wikipedia, the numerical date for November 11th (11/11) resembles four Pepero sticks and therefore that's the reason why it was chosen to be Pepero day.

I was also told by my Korean Language teacher that people give the snack to kids as good luck for making them grow tall. I guess I need to eat a lot of those, but I think I'll grow wider than I will taller if I eat tons of them! lol

So Happy Pepero (빼빼로) Day!!

Flower Art Class - Part Two

2007-11-09T06:35:00.001-05:00

So on Wednesday, we had a class on flower art. This time we made earrings and bookmarks.

We started off with this little kitty.

And if you are as talented as the teacher, you might be able to come up with something like this:

So I worked on mine for a bit and while we were waiting for it to finish "cooking," we made bookmarks. I'm not too happy with the one on the left side but I'm rather pleased with the one on the right.

Here's the bookmarks that Kukka, Tea, Mr. Lee, and I made while where were waiting. We've got some pretty talented people, don't we?

Then finally our little kitties were done. Here are my two little kitties.

This was rather fun and pretty easy to do, all you have to have is a pretty steady hand and some creativity and off you go! The next class is knot art. I'm going to have to video tape the teacher doing the knots this time so I can get it right!

Anyway, pictures of this class and of Seomun Market can be found HERE.

Seomun Market

2007-11-09T06:24:00.001-05:00

So this week, my English Conversation group wanted to help me experience Korean Culture by taking me to a traditional Korean market. In Daegu, this would be Seomun Market. I had already been to Seomun Market before, but was game to see if they could show me something different.

So this is a common sight around shopping areas. Usually you will see street vendors with their goods set up along the walkway, which just makes it really hard to walk. A lot of times, it's usually really old ladies who are selling vegetables from their gardens so they can make some cash to live. Which really makes it hard for me to walk by a rather old lady especially when it's cold without wanting to buying something, but I digress.

So in Seomun Market (서문시장) you can buy anything from fish, to expensive china. One of the things that you can find a lot of is hanboks (한복), the Korean Traditional Dress. Normally worn in Korea on special traditional holidays (like we would wear suits and gowns) but because of their high prices, they are mostly worn by children, especially on the child's first birthday, or by those who are wealthy. Here is a picture of children's hanboks; they run approximately $50, and for the girls comes with a top jacket, skirt, socks, a coin bag, and a headband or cap (The girl's outfit are on the bottom row). The boys get a little hat, you can see it on the first outfit on the 2nd row, a outer jacket and an inner vest, coin bag, and a pair of pants.

As we were all starving, we stopped and had some lunch at one of the food vendors (no McD's here!). I had some sort of noodle dish that I can't remember the name of, that was quite tasty.

James, who was starving, ordered a double, and the lady was so amused she gave him 3 bowls! LOL! He ate 2 1/2 bowls, he had to get Bruce to help in with the third bowl. Then afterwards, the group helped me spend a lot of my money. LOL! I got some great presents and let me tell you, if you need to go shopping, go with some Korean girls, they sure know how to haggle! I got this China set (2 rice bowls and 2 soup bowls) for $32 and I got a free gift of 2 spoon & Chopstick holders.

So here's my English Conversation group. Bruce and James.

Rachel and Amy.

And me and Ji-Hye.

Weekend Romp through Gyeongsan

2007-11-06T06:04:00.001-05:00

Since I spent Saturday, pretty much just being a big couch potato, I made myself go out on Sunday.

I had been eyeing the Daegu map to see what things I wanted to see before I left Daegu and noticed that there was this area of Daegu that had a fortress and some tombs "nearby."

As I couldn't find anyone to go with me, I hopped the subway to the very last station, Sawol Station and started walking.

As I was walking I passed by a rather common sight in Korea, new apartment construction, so I took a couple of pictures for you all to see. This apartment complex will have underground parking for the residents. Anytime you don't have to fight over parking is always a good design. One thing that really disappoints me about Korean apartments is the lack of aesthetics, they're just huge BORING concrete buildings that lack any real personality. With all of the architects from Korea that study abroad in like Italy and France, this really makes NO sense.

As I continued on my merry way, I noticed a sign for Gosan Seodang, which looking at the sign, seemed to mean that I was on the right track for the fortress. HAHAHAHA

So I went walking down the side road and got to walk a bit through some farming areas where I got to see a Farmer and his wife harvesting rice, which I thought was pretty cool. I'm just glad I wasn't the one out there doing the hard work, holy cow!

Honestly, in Korea, to be one of the educated people is really important. If not, then you're going to be in a world of hurt sitting on the cold streets trying to sell socks or vegetables from your garden to get money to feed yourself. Or you could be doing backbreaking farming. Or if you study hard in High School, you can possibly get into college and get a desk job and work 70 hours a week, but hey at least you have a steady paycheck.

Doesn't it make you realize just how good we have it in the US?

So, yes as I continued walking to the Gosan Seodang, I realized that I was actually going to the village school and not the fortress that was shown on my map! Drat!

I'm showing you this particular picture of the school, just to point out that there was a path from where this picture was taken down into the farm field below to the school on the hill. I had the coolest experience. As I climbed down and started walking through the Apple Orchard, I stirred up a huge dragonfly hangout.

Everywhere I walked, there was dragonflies flying around me and it was just awesome to have all these little dragonflies just kinda fly in front of my face and just kinda look at me as if to say, "Wow, you're funny looking" and parade me down the path to the school. I don't think I've ever seen that many dragonflies in my life, it was really awesome.

So as I got to the school and read the sign, I was bummed. The school was a reconstruction of the original school, because of course, the overzealous Neo-Confucians. The more I read about the Neo-Confucianism movement, the less I like I them. These highly idealistic men tried really hard to save people, but instead come across as communists. So in order to force the Korean people to follow their ways, they pretty much destroyed anything that went against what a couple of men thought were the right thing to do. :oP So hey, why not tear down schools and burn books to help these "ignorant" people be enlightened. Ok, moving on...

I don't think you have to be an archeologist to look at this picture and see that the work is fairly recent. The concrete caps on the roof tiles and the walls of the school are a bit too perfect and smooth. Oh, one thing I overheard from somewhere, was that Korea was really big about balance and so if you look at the roof, you will see that it's got this overlapping over and under look. You can see the over look with the ridges on the roof, that is considered the Male (Yang) and the under part, which connects the male part together, is the female symbol (Yin), so each roof is made up of the union of man and woman. I know Kim is sleeping but I hope the rest of you all thought that was interesting.

Seeing how it was locked and all that walking I did to see the school, I decided to walk behind the school. Lo and behold, there was a crude stone stairway that lead to this stone monument.

No, I have no idea what it stays. I just wonder if this isn't the tablet the sign mentioned.

So I took out my map and started to head to the Tombs that didn't look to far way on my map. As I started walking I saw a sign that said that the tombs were 6.1 km, as I have no idea how far that was, I figured it was probably either 3 miles or 12 miles, couldn't remember which, but seeing how the map looked a bit off, I figured it was probably 12 miles. So I started looking for a taxi and got one. The guy just spoke Korean and as my Korean stinks, we had a difficult time, but the guy ended up charging me extra for some reason but whatever, at least I was there because seeing where he was driving there would have been NO way I would have gotten there on my own.

So just on the outside of this newly developed housing area, were these random mounds.

I was just so surprised that these tombs were just kinda there with nothing more than a chain-linked fence and an informational sign saying that royalty was buried in these mounds. Apparently the ruling class (not quite kings & queens, but more like Governors to the King) were buried in the tombs and that's why there isn't any huge ceremony over them. What I thought was kinda humorous about them was that the tomb area was the local exercise area. Can you imagine doing laps in a cemetery? LOL This one guy was doing laps with his loyal older dog and a young pup. The Pup wasn't really listening and decided the Korean ladies were more fun to follow instead.

Well, you can kinda see one of the ladies in this picture, definitely can't see the naughty puppy running behind her, what a shame. But, you know the story behind this picture anyway.

I took my map and started to head back to the subway. I ended up walking a lot farther than I had thought and ended up across the street from the Gyeongsan-hyanggyo Confucian Academy. As I have nothing but distain for Confucianism, I chose to skip checking out their campus and headed in the direction of the subway station. As I did, I walked though this really cool area of beautiful fall leaves.

As I got to the end of the path and was trying to figure out which direction I should go, a bus stopped that was headed to Daegu Station, which leads to downtown. Seeing how I was still in a fog, I let the bus pass me and it wasn't until after it sped off, that I realized how stupid I was for not getting on that bus. Thankfully, buses run every 10 minutes, so I waited with a group of folks and got on the next bus. After going around what felt like all of East Daegu and about 45 minutes later, I ended up downtown Daegu. There was no way by this time that I would be able to get back to the dorm for dinner, so I splurged and went to KFC. With my chicken dinner, I was given hot dipping sauce, which I was going to use until I found out that the chicken I ordered was spicy. O_O

A tip for those traveling in Korea, if your food isn't super sweet, then it's going to be spicy! Salty food is very rare. Just because you picked up that bag of potato chips, don't assume it's going to be salty! More than likely it's going to be on the sweet side.

Ok that's it for this "little" journal entry. Oh and sorry, forgot to post the link to the pictures from last time, so they're combined in this photo album.

CLICK HERE

Have a nice day!!

Wow, it's been 12 weeks now?

2007-11-02T05:57:00.001-04:00

It's hard to believe 12 weeks have passed since I've left the US and I'm bummed that there is only 6 weeks left and I still have so much more stuff I want to do. Yeesh!

Not much happened this week. Just spent most of my time sleeping or wanting to sleep. Being sick, stinks!

So this week, my Marketing class had a get together. Free food is always a bonus. :o) The party was at a downtown Daegu center for Korean children to play while learning English. We met a lot of the students but they mostly hid in the back and only showed themselves when they wanted food. ;o)

So here we have Florian (German), JoJo (Korean), Heini (Finish), Jun Qui (Chinese), and Yu Jing (Chinese) starting to dig into the BBQ!

Let's see, Korean Art class this week was Korean Paper Art. I was joined by Angela, Hanna and Kukka, this time. Here's us doing our beauty pageant poses with our art work.

Normally you can turn this plate into a serving tray but because we were short on time, we didn't get a chance to put the laquer on it to make useable. So we just have a nice piece of artwork. :o) Here's a closer look at my flowers and the little dragon fly that I made. Everything was made entirely out of paper.

What is going to really blow your mind is some of the things you can do with the paper art. For instance, the picture down below is made ENTIRELY out of paper.

The only thing that is painted on there is her stamp on the left. It really was amazing.

The next day, on the way back from class. I stopped to take a breath from my huffing and puffing up that "hill" and noticed a dragonfly flying around me. I thought it was pretty cool that the dragonfly was the same color as the one made for our paper plates. ;o)

Tomorrow, I plan on going site seeing around Daegu. Should have some pretty good pictures for you all to see. :o)

Gatbawi

2007-10-28T05:24:00.001-04:00

On Saturday, I had a fun day hiking up to Gatbawi with Jong Hyun and her father, Mr. Lee, to look at the beautiful autumn leaves.

I had heard from Tea and Marcus that the hike was rather intense but I figured it was probably due to them having a mountain climber as their guide. Mr. Lee also enjoys hiking up the mountain but told me not to worry that he will go slow for me. Yippie!!

So according to the map, the hike is about 2.0 km (one way) which is roughly 1.25 miles and the way the Koreans hike it should only take 1 hour. HAHAHAHA!! Ok seeing how this is ME, the hike took 3 hours. ;o)

Look at how "EASY" this map makes it look. Now those stairs should really look like various switch-backs that go STRAIGHT UP. HA!!

So we started on this one part and it was a bit steep. I was thinking, "Yeesh, this is a bit steep, but not too bad." Little did I know...this was the easiest part of the entire trip.

Even with it being "easy" I still needed to take a break. My leg muscles were really tight and I needed to rest and stretch them out. Where we were resting, there was a little Buddhist side temple and Mr. Lee being quite the photographer, he had me walk by it to take some pictures because this was not something you normally see in the US. So here is me walking by the temple. :o)

As we walked a bit more into the mountain, we walked through Gwanamsa Temple. They were rebuilding on top of the old temple site that was destroyed during the peak of Confucianism. The temple roof ends were dragon heads.

Then we started climbing up the stairs. Little did I know, these were the EASY stairs.

The great thing was the beautiful scenery, which we got to enjoy because I really needed A LOT of breaks.

Then we got to the HARD stairs. Don't be fooled by the picture. The stairs actually were very steep, it was almost like climbing a ladder. Here's a picture of Jong Hyun, no doubt wanting to kill me to suggesting we go to Gatbawi. ;o)

We finally got to the top and was awarded our glimpse at Gatwabi.

This statue of Buddha was carved out of the natural stone around it. You can tell that this Buddha was carved around the 9th century because of the seriousness of his facial expression. See, around the 9th century, Confucianism was becoming the main religion for Korea and in their attempts to become the main religion, they were seeking to eliminate all things Buddhist. So the Buddhists went into hiding, and all the art works of Buddha has this serious expression on his face to show his sadness at being pushed aside.

What is also pretty awesome about this statue is that the flat rock on top of his head, is not attached to the Buddha's head. It's been there since the 1800's and has not fallen off! Considering how high up it is on the mountain, exposed to the high winds, that is really quite an accomplishment.

So we took a little rest at the top and enjoyed the scenery.

Jong Hyun had brought some apples, mandarins, and rice cake for us to snack on while we rested from that huge hike up the mountain. So after about 30 minutes, we headed back down the mountain, after I bought myself a little bracelet of yellow jade pigs, to remind me of HOW HARD that trek up the mountain was. I was later told that the little pigs are for good luck and also to help bring money my way. Hey, that will totally be ok with me.

So on the way down, we saw this pigeon that seemed to be just hanging out and a little vocal, so I took it's picture. I think maybe she was leading us away from her nest. I don't know for sure.

And this time we got a picture of Jong Hyun and her father with the beautiful leaves on my camera. They totally ROCK for being my tour guides up this strenuous mountain. Albeit, it was really a piece of cake for Mr. Lee, he was doing pull-ups on this one branch on our way down! What a very healthy guy!

After we made it down the mountain, Jong Hyun's legs and my legs were shaking rather hard because of how hard of a climb it was. It was just crazy! Oh and I also bought some pumpkin candy from one of the vendors on the mountain, who I had made a note to myself to buy from on the trip down. Mr. Lee then told me I got a lot of positive karma points because I bought from a handicapped lady. Interesting how that works out. Anyway, it was very yummy! It's kinda like pumpkin taffy that has peanuts and some sesame seeds (sorry CC, none for you!).

Then he took us to another place that was close by, a place where a famous Korean General, General Sin sung, sacrificed his life so that the Korean Goryeo King, King Wang Geon, could escape.

This shrine indicates the place where the General was killed.

Behind the shrine is an old Korean home where his descendants open up on the anniversary of his death. Which was not when we were there so we didn't get to go inside, no matter how hard I knocked at the door.

Afterwards, we went to dinner and ate very well. Everything was so delicious!

Cheers!!!

Theme of the week, crafts

2007-10-26T07:41:00.001-04:00

Besides me feeling like...blah...I haven't really done much except a lot of trying to figure out what it is that I need to do before I need to leave Korea. Let me tell you, my list is pretty LONG.

So the pictures this week is of the kind of fun things I've done this week. :o)

On Monday, in Korean Language class, we made paper Hanboks, which is the Traditional Korean Outfit.

Yes, I know it's gorgeous isn't it? ;o)

Kukka being the artist that she is, decided to personalize her Hanbok. It looks like her, doesn't it? hahahaha

Oh and when I went to the hospital, Su Hyun and I had stopped at Seomun Market, which was right across the street. And I picked up this little guy, I've named him Thumper.

This little guy is a Korean back massager. What you do is take him and thump your back muscles with this little guy. Use his nose if you want a light pressure, use the side of his head for a deeper pressure. Yes, wonderful invention.

On Wednesday, we had Korean Art class, and I was the only one to attend. We covered Korean Knots. She started the knot for me and at the end when I tried to ask her how to start the knot, she showed me but when I got back to the dorm to recreate what she showed me. NOPE couldn't do it. I'm going to have to record her doing it in the next class. Anyway, here is the two things I made. Korean knot necklace and the one below is a Korean knot ring.

Today after Korean Language class, I went out shopping with a couple of exchange students. We went to Seomun Market and also to Kyobo books. I wanted to look up some English books that were about Korean culture. These books are like 50% cheaper here in Korea than it is in the US, so you know I was checking out titles.

Afterwards, we headed back to campus for the Halloween party. We had a mixer, were we had to fill out the blanks for the song, "The Monster Mash." Then next activity was for us wrap one of our team members in tolite paper as a mummy and put little notes on various body parts on the mummy. This is poor Eun-Jin, our mummy.

Our team won the competition, so we got baseball caps and candy. The third competition was for the pumpkin carving contest. I thought our pumpkin was pretty good, but other teams won.

I thought the glasses and the puking effect was pretty awesome, but hey, what can you do?

More pictures HERE.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!

9/11 & Korean American Father(The Korea Times)

2007-10-23T07:32:00.001-04:00

A very touching article that is worth reading.

9/11 & Korean American Father
By Jason Lim
Although our family left Korea to begin a new life in America over 30 years ago, I never realized that my North Korea born father was an American patriot until 9/11.

My father was always the epitome of the traditional silent type, never raising his voice with his family yet guiding his children by how diligently he worked everyday as the owner/operator of a tiny dry cleaning store in Yonkers, a blue collar suburb of New York City.

He would leave at six in the morning and come back at eight at night, covered with the dirt and smell of cleaning other people's dirty laundry.

Even in the face of some unexpected business or family crisis, my father would be silent, offering no excuses and exhibiting no emotions. The next morning, my father would go off to work as usual, facing mounds of dirty clothes.

My father rarely talked about how he was raised in Pyongyang, the capital of North Korea. He never mentioned that he was accepted as a full scholarship student to Moscow University Medical School when the Korean War began and erased that option.

He never talked about escaping to South Korea by himself when he was only sixteen. He still doesn't know what happened to his mother and baby sister; consequently, we don't have any relatives on our father's side.

He never talked about fighting in the Korean War when he was only seventeen. When my brother and I were little, he did let us play with an elongated scar stretched across his chest from a North Korean bullet.

All these details we got in rare bits and pieces from our mom, who isn't exactly voluble either.

I never even realized my father spoke six languages _ Korean, English, Spanish, Chinese, Japanese, and Russian _ until I was in college. And here I was all smug to speak Korean, English, and some Spanish.

This was the father I knew, silent, hardworking, and very Korean. Until he called me a few months after 9/11 and told me to come home. He told me that he wanted to talk with me, for the first time in memory!

When I arrived, my father asked me for a favor for the first time in my life. He asked me to quit my job and work for the U.S. government in any capacity that they would take me. It would mean that I would have to go back to school and get a master's degree.

My initial reaction was to dismiss it as ridiculous. After all, I was the chief of staff for the founder of an international consulting firm and was the fastest rising executive in the history of the firm with a guaranteed, financially secure future.

This was the American dream that my parents had sacrificed for all their lives. And he wanted me to go back to school and apply to become a government bureaucrat.

Like any other American, I was deeply affected by 9/11. Three students from my high school were actually killed in the attack. But this was out of the question. I couldn't give up what I had worked so hard for.

Then he said something that stopped my breath. He said, ``Please." My father, who, along with my mother, had slaved in a stifling drycleaners for more than 20 years for his children, felt the need to say, ``Please" to his own son.

He then explained to me about gratitude. His gratitude to America for allowing a onetime North Korean orphan to take care of his family and send his sons to the best schools in the world.

His sense of thankfulness at being granted the freedom and privilege of making his life worthwhile for his family. He said that real patriotism came from acting on your sense of gratitude for your country, not just talking about it.

Having one of his sons contribute to the protection of America was his only way to pay back for what he had received. I hadn't known my father was such an eloquent man.

So, this past June, I began my new life as a government bureaucrat, working in the field of homeland security. My father is quietly ecstatic, and he plans to finally retire. He is 75 years old. And he is a Korean American patriot.

Jason Lim is a fellow at Harvard Korea Institute researching Asian leadership models. He can be reached at jasonlim@post.harvard.edu.

9/11 & Korean American Father(The Korea Times)

The Most Terrifying Video You'll Ever See

2007-10-23T04:25:00.001-04:00

Last night, I was procrastinating from reading some rather dry reading material about Neo-Confucianism and came across this video. This video is basically a video blog put together by a high school science teacher who is asking some interesting questions about Global Warming.

So yes, it's a little nerdy in its content, which is probably why I like it so much. ;o) What I like the most about this video blog is that it's just presented as an average person who is wanting some civil and intelligent dialog concerning why we should press the government and the scientific community to look into this problem. It's not some guy saying, "This is THE CORRECT answer." It is a video of a guy saying, "OK, I did some number crunching on my own and this is what I got. Do you see any reason why my logic might be wrong?"

That's what I respect, someone who is seeking the truth and willing to concede that he might be wrong. I really respect the fact that he is asking for a civil exchange of information and that he tells you WHERE he gets his information and not just something he pulled out of his butt.

Anyway, I thought that he made a rather compelling argument and had me thinking all day about this subject. That was motivation enough for me to share his videos on this blog.

Here is the first of his videos:

And because he's sincere about really wanting to know if his logic might be invalid or not, he has several follow up videos to respond to comments that are trying to poke holes in his theory.

Here is his response video #1

Response video #2:

Response video #3:

And if you like those, then you'll want to check out the video he has called: The Most IMPORTANT Video You Will Ever See, it's in 8 parts, so make sure you see all of them. I think that this lecture is compelling and is making me wonder if the effects of overpopulation is what I am feeling here in Korea.

Anyway, the video is a lecture given by a Physics Professor from University of Colorado, Albert Bartlett. Now, don't get scared, the lecture is actually very easy to understand as long as you pay attention to him. And honestly, he really just uses very SIMPLE math to make some comments on overpopulation and how we are going to have to reduce our oil and coal production.

Again, he states his sources and also makes some awesome points about how some of the people who are considered experts, aren't really experts in the field that is the topic. I mean I totally agree with his point, what makes an economist a better expert than a geologist when it comes to finding oil?

Economist = an expert in the science of economics.

Economics = the study of labor, land, and investments, of money, income, and production, and of taxes and government expenditures.

Geologist = a specialist in geology

Geology = a science that deals with the history of the earth as recorded in rocks

What do you think?

Definitions provided by: WordNet

Week 10 - Midterm Week!!

2007-10-22T04:25:00.001-04:00

So week 10 of being abroad is mid-term exam week at Keimyung University. So part of helping students out, Monday through Thursday, we were supplied at 11 pm with a free snack. mmmm

On Tuesday, my English Discussion Group treated me to lunch. Where we had Pork meat cooked over some charcoal, pretty tasty, and then we had our brief discussion afterward.

Later that night, Matt and I joined Da Eun, her boyfriend and a friend of her's from Cambodia to watch her mother perform in a Traditional Korean Musical Orchestra. Unfortunately, I was only able to get ONE picture before attendant came flying over to me and letting me know that pictures were not allowed. The soloist below is playing the Kayagum.

So I couldn't get a picture of Da Eun's mom playing the Hae Gum, which is an instrument that looks very similar to a polo stick with strings. Let me see if Google has a picture of it...

Thank you random people for providing the picture above for me...It's like a violin but it only has two strings and makes a rather mournful sound. I definitely like it better than the Kayagum.

It was 11 pm by the time we got back from the concert and I was just really exhausted, from the sinus infection no doubt, but I digress. I managed to remember to take a photo of a Korean Church sign. There are just so many lighting up the sky in Korea, I think I mentioned before that my Uncle had said that Korea looks like a graveyard because there was so many Crosses scattered throughout the city. Shoot, I should have taken the shot from a different angle and you could have seen 3 different churches in one area.

Now we are up to Wednesday. Oh, snack for Tuesday was Krispy Kreme Donuts. mmm...Ok so back to Wednesday, I was the only person to show up for Korean Boudoir Art, which was with those really nice ladies. This time we made little cloth coasters and the other lady made a Korean Traditional Sock hanging thing for me. I also got another free coaster that she gave me, and gave me some string and a needle to make a couple more in my "free" time. The tall flower on the right is the one I did. :o)

So that leads me to Thursday, when I took the TWO HARDEST exams ever! Korean History and Korean Culture. I feel pretty good about Korean History but Korean Culture, I know I bombed that one. I couldn't remember the names and sounds of Korean or Chinese characters (as in letters) and couldn't remember what each of the different shamanic rituals were about or the names (English and Chinese) of the 9 Confucianism required books for government testing, and the list goes on. Yeesh. I was lucky, I could actually read college level English, so I could actually "finish" the exams, but I know that the folks from the other countries had some problems. Then I had the fiasco about the Doctor not being in the clinic, so I went back to my room and slept a bit.

So Friday, I took my Korean Language Exam and feel really good about it. :o) And then I went to Dongsan, Keimyung University hospital to get my sinus checked out. As I was waiting for Su Hyun to meet me, I noticed these three old women walking. Two of the women were practically hunched over, which is the usual scene of an older Korean woman, the third woman wasn't as bad off, but still walking a bit gingerly. Anyway, these three ladies noticed that the street light was green and made a run for it. One lady made it across, the other one braved the traffic and continued even though it was a green light for these cars and trucks, the other woman, just stood there in the median, stuck.

I watched with sadness, as she had to stand there in the median for over 10 minutes as the cars and trucks just zoomed by her, not even slowing down in speed but zooming by at speeds of over 30 mphs. I just really wanting to do something but wasn't really sure what could be done in that sort of situation. Just seems like it was a visual representation of our society today. The old being ignored while the younger go rushing on in life. Meh.

So maybe it was me being all sensitive because of being sick, I dunno. Anyway, Su Hyun arrived a bit later and we headed to the hospital, after trying to find the International Health Center, we had a little bit of time waiting in the waiting room to see the ENT doctor. The doctor stuck this huge metal object into my nose that apparently let's him see into my sinuses, and he confirmed that yes, I have sinus infection and it was more than likely due to my deviated septum. My what? Now, I can't tell you how many doctors I have seen because of various problems with my breathing and all the sinus issues I've had.

So he tells me that a deviated septum is where the cartilage in my nose has moved off center and actually blocks one of the nostrils, which normally causes snoring, inability to intake a lot of oxygen and also causes chronic sinus infections. :oP Geez, and to think I paid all that money for the sleep apnea studies when it was just a deviated septum. :oP Grr. So anyway, he said that he recommended that when I get back to the US, I speak to a doctor about having corrective surgery. In the meanwhile, he gave me some antibiotics to take care of the infection and if it wasn't gone in 10 days, to come back for another round.

Well, it was nice to finally KNOW what was causing all my breathing issues.

Oh, forgot to mention that I tried a soft drink called "Milkis" which is milk soda, yeah sounds a bit gross doesn't it? But it's got so little milk in it and has the equivalent of neutral tasting sprite. Not bad, not really great either, just ok. Worth a try though.

On Saturday, I did another CCAP class at Bugye Middle School, which is located outside of Daegu, in the country. It was really very nice area filled with all these apple farms, which I bought some from a little old lady on the way back to school.

I did Halloween again, but this time I was armed with some Halloween stuff from N and CC. The Halloween prizes were a hit with getting the kids to participate in the quiz that I had at the end. We also had the kids come up and run through saying "Trick or Treat."

The English instructor who arranged the CCAP class, also invited students from a neighboring school to attend as well. They were just so cute.

There are more pictures from Bugye Middle School, which can be found HERE.

So after the presentation, the teacher took my KIV, Hyo Kyung, and me, to lunch. Where we had smoked duck, man that was really yummy. And then we were driven back to Daegu, where Hyo Kyung helped me catch a train to Busan. I couldn't have done without her!

Oh and let me tell you something, be careful about using the words, "Never," and "I wonder," because things will happen so that way you say, "I did" and "I know." Yes, because I sat on the train twice and saw a lot of people standing on the train because they didn't have a seat. There is one train where they sell standing room tickets and yes, I said to myself, "Geez, I wonder why they're standing." Yes, well, I stood on the way from Daegu to Busan. Interesting experience, not comfortable but definitely do able. I don't have to wonder anymore about that. Yeesh.

So while in Busan, I met another relative and his family. Unfortunately, I forgot to take pictures of them and they gave me this super warm and nice scarf. :o) The father, was my cousin, and is like 10 years or so older than me, he said that he use to hug me all the time when I was a kid. Yeesh. Apparently, I was rather popular for hugging as a kid, but I can't remember them. :o(

We had really yummy dinner, seafood spaghetti and very spicy Chinese chicken stir-fry. Afterwards, we watched a Korean movie that was based on a true story, a kid who was kidnapped and then the family was extorted for $200,000 random when the kid was killed the second day that he was kidnapped and they didn't find his body until like 52 days after the kidnapping. They still haven't found the kidnapper and the statue of limitations runs out next year.

So the next day, I got a haircut, some lotion, a Korean electronic dictionary (which I found out this morning doesn't speak English, yeesh), and bedding. Yeah, I got hooked up! lol

So then I headed back to Daegu. To start off Week 11. Which you all can read about later. ;o)

Other pictures from the week can be found HERE.

Sinus Update

2007-10-18T02:01:00.001-04:00

Well, today after my two intense exams (ohmigod!) I went to the Health Clinic to find that they were closed. So I had lunch with Su Hyun.

A little after 1:30, I bravely went back to the clinic without an interpreter and the receptionist just went on trying to tell me something, which I just guessed that she was saying that the doctor was not in or something. So I said, "OK, I'll be back." I then went to the International Lounge and found two students who offered to help translate for me.

So back to the place we went and they just kind of stood there trying to figure out where to start, and the lady just kinda had an attitude and just started talking in Korean. As they spoke for a little bit and then they just kind of stood there and kind of ushered me out. They told me that lady said that the Doctor was not in and I would need to wait until tomorrow, and that if I'm really sick that I needed to go to a real hospital. I told them I thought the woman seemed a bit rude and they confirmed that when we first came in the lady said, "So she brings her friends this time, so what?" And then was saying that she TOLD me that the Doctor was not in and all this other stuff.

I honestly don't know why this woman thought that I could understand Korean, especially when I brought in a translator with me when I was there on Monday. However, this does remind me of several instances where I've seen someone who could not speak English in the US and being treated even more rudely than I was just treated. It is just amazing how stupid people think you are and then treat you like crap just because you fail to speak their language. I bet that you could be a Nobel prize winner and if you went to another country, where you didn't know the language, and tried to order something, you would be treated like you were some sort of imbecile. Perception, it's amazing.

So I looked at the International Student Handbook and found out that tomorrow at the clinic, they have the ears, nose and throat doctor on staff. Let's hope that the manual is correct and get me some REAL help. I am so tired and drained.

I'm published!

2007-10-17T07:11:00.001-04:00

The Keimyung Gazette asked several foreign exchange students to write an article about their home town. So I wrote a little blurb about Bristol. You can read it here:

http://gazette.gokmu.com/

Not sure how long they are going to have the article up in the prime location, directly on your right, but if you don't see it, then scroll down until you see KMU Voice, it will be listed there until the end of the semester. :o)

Air Bag-Like Jacket Saves Motorcyclist's Life

2007-10-15T10:07:00.001-04:00

Article can be found here:

Air Bag-Like Jacket Saves Motorcyclist's Life - Baltimore News Story - WBAL Baltimore

Now this is VERY cool. As a motorcycle rider and a safety conscious one at that, I am definitely glad to see a product like this out there.

Now if I can actually get one...

One down, Three to go

2007-10-15T03:52:00.001-04:00

Had my marketing exam today, it was a cinch. I really don't know how I manage to get into these marketing classes anyway. I have no intentions of taking marketing class and then at the last minute, bam, I'm in a marketing class. Very odd.

The Instructor gave us the exam questions in advance, so it really wasn't a big deal. Some people actually had typed up answers to the exam and since it was open book, open notes, it was allowed. However, the kicker, you have to answer the exam on special University paper. So they had to transfer all that information, which was just WAYY too much, over to the other paper. Power to them. I kept to the KISS method (Keep It Simple Stupid) and just summarized my answers.

I also stopped by the school health clinic. The doctor spoke perfect English, but I am so thankful that I had Su Hyun there as an interpreter for me, the paperwork was all in Korean. O_O The doctor thought that I might have sinusitis but he couldn't tell for sure since you need to X-ray to find out and they don't have an X-ray machine. So he reluctantly gave me 2 days of antibiotics and told me if I'm still sick to come back and they'll see what they can do. Which might be talking with the International Office to get me to a real Hospital. Let's hope it doesn't come to that.

Well, it's almost dinner time! Food! Yippie!

Happy Birthday Nikki!!

2007-10-14T09:57:00.001-04:00

Just want to wish my wonderful US of A roomie a very happy 36th birthday!

Of course, she won't get this message until she returns from her week vacation in Folly Beach, North Carolina. The lucky dog!

Hope you're having a good relaxing and rejuvenating birthday!

Mid-term Exams Are Here!!

2007-10-14T04:49:00.001-04:00

For those curious, mid-terms start Monday for us. My Mid-term line up is as follows:

Monday - Marketing: An East Asian Perspective

Thursday - Korean Culture And Korean History

Friday - Korean Language

Human Thinking has been pushed back because we've only had like 4 classes due to all the holidays.

Well, I'm headed off to Dinner now and then off to study for Korean Language, perhaps the most difficult class that I have this semester! Yikes!

Weekend laziness...

2007-10-14T04:44:00.001-04:00

My neck is feeling MUCH better today, thank you for all those who were concerned about my well being. I am still having some issues with the sinus infection or whatever it is, but thankfully, I now have my supply of Herbs from Gwen's Herb shop in Bristol, sent all special from N and CC. :o)

I got all sorts of goodies from them. Awesome Panda Bear Pillow, gotta have a little talk with Ms N about the PINK fuzzy socks when I get back to Bristol, but Su Hyun appreciates them in any case. And tons of Halloween stuff from the both of them, which I will be using in my CCAP class that I am suppose to have on Saturday, October 20th. More details when I get them on the CCAP thing. From CC, got some awesome wood carvings, one of my most favorite University EVER, yes that would be Virginia Tech and one of the cutest little cartoon that I saw on the Internet. See, sometimes you just have to mention that you liked something and it will somehow pop up in your life. ahem...I really like BMW... ;o)

So this weekend, amidst of me procrastinating from studying and in a sleeping coma, I managed to get outside today and do some shopping. Yeah, don't ask me how I ended up at E-mart. Grr. I picked up a lot of things, but the things I was looking for like over the counter cold medicine, was no where to be found. And index cards for that matter. Slightly annoying.

I did take some pretty nice photos of various flowers on my way to E-mart anyway.

Oh and I took this picture from outside my window. Is it me or does that huge rock look like a skeleton head?

On the way to E-mart, I was followed by this Magpie. Wished I could have gotten a better picture, because it looks a lot farther away than it actually was.

One thing about Korea, just because you're on a sidewalk, doesn't mean that there won't be a vehicle about to run you over. That is possibly one of the most annoying things I find about Korea. If you have a scooter/motorcycle, you can pretty drive where ever you want to. I was told that they really aren't allowed to, but because there isn't much of a police presence they pretty much do whatever they want. Grr! Next time I'll get a picture of the scooter people in dense human traffic and you can see why I'm so annoyed by them driving on the sidewalks.

A rather humorous incident in E-mart. I needed some change and there was a McDonald's, and seeing how I didn't have lunch, I figured I might as well take care of two things at once. Unfortunately, I forgot how to say 6 in Korean. I tried to tell her that I wanted 1 #6 meal. Somehow she understood it to mean, I wanted 6 #6 meals. O_O I saw the price and freaked! 21,000 Won for one meal?! I knew something was wrong, but we got it cleared up. See how important the language is!!

So I ordered their Spicy Shanghai McChicken Sandwich, which I was expecting to light me on fire but it was not even remotely spicy. Ah well, I guess Shanghai really doesn't have spicy foods, they should come out with a Daegu McChicken, I bet you'd breathe out flames with that Sandwich! O_O

Well, shoot, there is like only 3 pictures that I didn't post. You can look at the pictures the small private garden next to the campus HERE.

Week of Oct. 8th

2007-10-12T22:50:00.001-04:00

So Friday, I was in a lot of pain. I made it through Korean Language class and was driven home by the Instructor, which I don't know if that was helpful or not. All that stop and go was like getting mini-whiplash, by the time I got back to my room all I could do was cry, I was in so much pain. I managed to call Eiko, who got me back to the Orthopedic doctor. This time around they gave me a pain relief shot, which didn't do much and then back to getting the neck therapy, which helped a lot.

So we made it back to campus and I think Eiko was a bit late to appointment with her professor. :o( I honestly don't know 'cuz when I got back to my room, I went to sleep and took some Tylenol that Eiko had some girl drop off to me. That was around 1 pm and I didn't wake up until 6:30 pm when I got dinner later. Which was rather painful as I am having problems swallowing still.

On top of this lovely muscle pain, I also have some sort of infection, which I can only guess might be sinus related. It's funny how this sinus stuff started acting up for me when the building decided to turn on the heaters. I'm really starting to think there is something in the ventilation system.

Ok enough of the crying and moaning. This week, Tea, Matt, Mr. Lee and I attended the Korean Traditional Pressed Flower Art class. Not exactly a class I was dying to check out but figured I might actually enjoy it so why not?

We started off with a lot of dried flowers that the Instructor Mrs. Shin already dried earlier in the year. In the spring, she collects all sorts of flowers of various shapes and sizes to teach her classes and also to make the crafts herself. She says with the large flowers, such as sunflowers, she uses them to make furniture.

So we first worked on making little keychains or necklaces and while those things were cooking, we made little cards. In order of who made them (L to R), Mr. Lee, Tea, Matt, and Me.

When it was all said and done, my two necklaces came out pretty well, if I do say so myself! Hey CC, maybe this could be another product line you could sell in Harmony Crossing! The instructor actually sells her necklaces and keychains at various tourist locations throughout Korea. Next class in November, we'll be making pressed flower earrings.

MORE PICTURES!

Oww - Part two

2007-10-11T09:38:00.001-04:00

So I am back from the doctor's office. The entire visit with the X-rays was about 28,000 Won, or $28, which is way cheaper than my co-pay for my health insurance ($30 without X-rays!)!

I went in and got an X-ray where the doctor told me that my neck is too straight. Something I already knew from my Chiropractors at home and anyway from lying on my side in my sleep, I managed to pull and strain my muscles in my neck. :oP So he prescribed a muscle relaxant for three days and I had some therapy.

The table was like a heated tile floor that was rather uncomfortable to lie on but I think I should just get use to lying on hard surfaces while I'm here in Korea. What was kinda cool was instead of just regular electronic muscle zapping machine, it had an extra component, suction cups. So not only was it zapping the muscle to fatigue them, but it was also suctioning blood movement within the muscle itself. Very cool. So I felt pretty good for about two hours, but then I realized that there was another pain in my throat. Yes, the kind of pain that you get right before you get a cold. ARG!!

Doesn't bode very well for my trip to the Jinju Lantern Festival tomorrow but I figure it will be worth it. :o)

Owww

2007-10-11T00:37:00.001-04:00

I must have slept funny last night because my neck is seriously bothering me. It's tolerable until I want to swallow, then it seriously hurts in the muscles in the back of my neck. Yeah, go figure.

Thankfully, Eiko is my personal contact for everything I could possibly need in Daegu. So she made some phone calls and I now have an appointment at 2 pm to see a massage type therapist. According to them for therapy, it will cost me 10,000 Won (or $10) and if I need x-rays then that will cost about 20,000 Won more. Can you believe that is the price WITHOUT insurance? Yeah go figure.

Hopefully this will help me! L8r!

Weekend International Students Field Trip

2007-10-07T01:39:00.001-04:00

Keimyung University sponsored a FREE field trip for the International Students this past Friday and Saturday. So of course you know that yours truly was there. :o)

The field trip was to promote Korean Industrial Companies, POSCO (Pohang Steel Corporation) and Hyundai Motors, and also to tour historical Gyeongju.

Our first trip was to POSCO, Korea's largest Publicly Traded Steel Corporation. The mural below is made of photos of POSCO employees.

Throughout the entire company tour, they mentioned over and over again how they used the Japanese War Reparations money to help fund the building of the plant. How the "blood of their ancestors" (during Colonial Japan) will help the future generations of Koreans. This is sort of a trend that I have seen in Korean businesses, the use of emotions to promote sales and also to inspire workers. I think because of their use of nationalism to promote the company in nearly all ways, that this might be the reason why Korean Chopsticks are now made of stainless steel. (Japanese out of wood and Chinese out of Bamboo & longer in length).

The next stop on our industrial tour was a stop at Hyundai. They gave us their PR brochure, which will come in very handy for my marketing project due at the end of the semester, and also a model of the Hyundai Tucson. I rather enjoyed the look of the Tuscani, the new even more sporty version of the Tiburon.

The factory tour was interesting, but rather curious to see how Toyota's manufacturing process differs as they are considered the world's most efficient. There was a lot of things that I wondered why they were done the way they were, but hey that's what you get for seeing only one section of the production line.

Then after that tour, we went to our resort hotel, which apparently hosts the LPGA tour at their resort. Can you see the East Sea in the picture?

The rooms were interesting as there was one double bed in the room and the other people had to sleep Korean style (on the floor). I opted to sleep on the floor. I was afraid that if I slept in a nice comfortable bed that would just spoil my back and it would revolt against me when I slept in my hard dorm bed. ;o)

We had a really good meal, which the Chinese students really enjoyed, it reminded them of Chinese food. Then afterward, we had a bonfire and karaoke singing outside. Yes, that is a karaoke machine you are seeing.

Around 10, I went back to the room with Tea, took a shower and then went to sleep. The majority of the others went on to finish off their many, many, many bottles of soju and beer, until about 3 am. The Chinese girls got up around 5 am to watch the sun rise, which didn't rise until 6 am, so they were a bit exhausted at breakfast. Which breakfast was CEREAL and toast, and eggs, and bacon and sausage with orange juice. Oh you want to talk about being a happy camper! Ok so the yolk was runny but I just cut that part out and left it off to the side, the rest of it was heavenly.

Then it was off to Gyeongju, we stopped briefly to pick up our tour guide. I had fun telling people that this was where my parents had their honeymoon. :o) I bought some famous Gyeongju bread, which I'm sorry to say, I didn't like all that much. I love sweet beans but that was a bit too much.

Then we headed off to Seokguram Temple, where I got an awesome picture the Korean Mountains.

Unfortunately, we aren't allowed to take pictures of the Buddha statue. The statue apparently is the most perfectly made Buddha statue in the world (don't know if I believe that) that this statue is absolutely perfect in its proportions (similar to the statue of David).

Lucky for us, there was a picture on the Internet of this statue. The statue has a crystal on his 3rd eye, which on the winter solstic, the sunlight enters the grotto and hits the crystal, which reflects the light to another Buddha's 3rd eye, this crystal is double refracted and it shines the sunlight behind Buddha to illuminate a female figure, Avalokitesvara (Kuan Yin).

We then made our way to Bulguksa, which I visited 2 years ago with my sister, mom and Aunt, so I didn't take as many pictures this time around. So it was a bit frustrating to have to stay with the group when I wanted to look at some other stuff. :oP I was hoping to see if I could find the temple dedicated to the San Shin (Mountain Spirit) or find the murals that had the original Buddha's pictorial history and the pictorial lesson for how to attain enlightenment. But, no such luck.

We then rushed to the next site to have a Traditional Korean lunch. It was ok, but I really was having a hard time sitting on the floor that day and it was really, really hot in that room so I excused myself from the room and sat outside. Don't know why I was feeling so claustrophobic in that room. So while I was outside, I took a picture of the other students eating in the other room.

I thought we were going to see the Tombs of the past Korean Kings and Queens but that wasn't even on the agenda. :o( I'm going to have to go to Gyeongju again just so I can tour the tomb area.

Our next stop was at the Gyeongju World Culture Expo Center. It is basically a huge amusement park where we had no freedom to walk around on our own. I think I don't like tours because of that. :oP So we saw the huge building that was cut in the same of a 9 story pagoda. The 9 levels represent the 9 kingdoms during some sort of time period maybe the Joeson period.

On the floor below the Observatory, they had Korea's Digital Heritage. So they had all these high technology stations that showed you 3-D images of various Korean historical items, like crowns, pagodas, clothing, etc. They also had a lot of videos of hair styles and historical stories that you could watch as well.

After that, we watched some Chinese fusion dancing that was suppose to represent multiculturalism in Shanghai. It was a mix between ballet and some other dancing.

After that, we went and visited the garden that had the 12 Chinese zodiacs. I naturally took a picture of my Chinese zodiac, the dragon.

On our way out of the park, we passed the Russian Ice Skaters who were doing a parade to get more people to come and watch their show. The Russian exchange students had fun shouting out some Russian to the performers. Just for you Teresa and Imo, here are the Russian belly dancers in the parade.

Passed out on the way back to campus. Everyone was so tired, especially the ones who were hung over still from Saturday night. hahaha I know I slept like a log! I didn't even hear my roommate come in after I went to bed! Scary!

MORE PICTURES!! I've changed the naming format a bit so hopefully everything will be in the correct order this time around. :o)

Andong Mask Festival - Part 2

2007-10-02T11:51:00.001-04:00

So we get to the Mask Festival area rather easily with our trusty Interpreter, Ji-Eun. We made our way into the festival and walked by large slabs of Pork and several other items that you don't normally see in the US. I'll try to take pictures of them next time.

We walked around a bit and took note of several vendors we planned on checking out later. One place was selling some interesting products...

So we walked over to this other section and I just felt like we should go this other way for some reason and we ended up at a side stage where they were setting up for a Shamanic Performance. We had just studied about Korean Shamanism in our Korean Culture class and so we were all interested in seeing this performance and so we sat and sat and sat. As the performance started, we all had awesome seats but then all these elderly Koreans came out of nowhere and all started sitting in front of us and places you would never even thought about sitting. It's amazing how in America a bench would hold like maybe 2 or 3 people and in Korea, the same bench would hold 5 Koreans. Determined people, let me tell you!

Well this ceremony was several hours long and we watched several shamans performed but as we all needed to use the bathroom and also to MOVE we left after seeing 4 shamans. They all pretty much did the same thing, dancing around and some sang. The one that threw us was this man, who I honestly thought was just a rather homely woman, turns out was a man, who was just in women's clothing because he channels a female entity.

I was really interested in seeing the ritual involving the blade stairs, so I asked Ji-Eun to ask one of the "assistants" when the blade ritual would take place and so she did. Well the assistant was the actual shaman who was going to perform the ritual, so she informed us it was going to take place between 3 and 4 pm. Which gave us a couple of hours to grab some lunch, have a little walk around and also catch a Korean mask dance.

We ended up watching half of Sooyeong.

Then we headed back to watch the Shamanic ritual with the blade steps. The blades were not sharp, so no worries about seeing blood or anything like that. The red and blue poles actually help the Shaman to keep a lot of her weight off the blades but still there is a good chance that she could hurt herself. Yes, that's right, in Korea, Shamans are usually women.

She first started off doing a lot of dances with various knives and swords, which I really don't understand why anyone would want to approach her to place money in her little headband. She's got KNIVES and is a trance people!!

So after all this dancing and running around with various weapons (She channels a warrior spirit if you couldn't figure out why she had so many weapons), she started her climb up the stairs. I have a video clip of the event so sorry, no still pictures.

Then after coming down from the steps, she got really hyper and then climbed this other step and stood on another blade for a brief period of time. Didn't get any picture of that because this woman decided she was going to stand RIGHT in front of everyone and watch this with her young child on her back. Yes, that would be her in this picture.

Yes and people don't think anything of walking through a performance on their way to the other side. Don't know if it's Korean behavior or if it's just the behavior of several clueless people. So after doing all of that, she started doing little fortune-telling with her flags. Apparently red flag was the best.

So after the ritual, we went back to catch another mask dance. This one the Songpa.

Not really sure what the play was about, but the guy in yellow was a bad guy and there was a man in Green who was trying to capture him. I thought the guy in Green was a bad guy because his mask was rather ugly, but turned out he was the good guy. HA! Here he is talking with his son.

Well, we cut out of this play a bit early to do some shopping and then headed off. Angela and Daniel back to Daegu and Ji-Eun and I to Busan. Finally got to meet my other cousin, of course, I can't remember his name. Geez, I have no idea why I can't remember Korean names!!

So, let me see. The guy on the left front is a cousin of Ji-Eun (Father's brother's son) and beside him is another cousin (he's married to the girl who is not Ji-Eun, she's a Graphic Designer), then there is my Uncle at the end of the table, and beside him is my Cousin (Ji-Eun's older brother). Yes, I suck with names.

Ok I'm tired, time for bed!

More pictures!

Andong Mask Festival - Part 1

2007-10-02T10:56:00.001-04:00

Geez, I think you guys are going to be spoiled getting all these posts all in one day. ;o)

This weekend, Angela, Daniel, Ji-Eun and I, went to Andong for the mask festival. To start off our trip, we met Ji-Eun on Friday at the Bus Station in Daegu and took the bus to Andong. From there, we took a taxi to what I thought was a "close" traditional Korean house. Well, turned out it was over 50 minutes outside of Andong, but you know it was well worth it.

When we arrived it was really late, and one of the rooms actually had the heated floor system turned on. You can see the smoke coming from the heater. This home belong to an upper class Korean family approximately 400 years ago. The home was actually farther down closer to the river but was moved when the Andong dam was built.

Since we had the largest party, we got to stay in the bedroom belonging to the Master of the home. :o) Ji-Eun treated us to some Korean tea and then we headed back to our room after accidentally trying to check out the "guest house" and finding out that there was an actual GUEST in there. Ooops! So to keep out of trouble we hung out in the little open air sitting area in our room and played a traditional game that Ji-Eun taught us called, "Muk."

So we went about making our beds and turning in for the night. I dare say, I think that sleeping on the floor here was more comfortable than my DORM bed. Good grief. My alarm went off at 6:30, but I didn't actually get up for another 10 minutes. Man, I was SO tired! I think everyone else was feeling the same as they were dragging in the morning as well.

So as the others were trying to drag themselves to consciousness, I went outside and got an awesome picture of our "front yard." Um...yeah, the white building is the "guest house."

We were going to go on an hour walk on this path they had but unfortunately the walk was 30 minutes one way and there was no way we were going walk for an hour when we could be sleeping. Yeah, we were that tired. We did get several more shots of the house area. Seeing how we arrived in the middle of the darkness we were amazed to be greeted with the scenery that we did.

Here's a better picture of our "room."

The open area on the right is where we were playing Muk and the two open doors to the left and behind Angela and Daniel are the doors to our sleeping area. Talk about awesome.

We were told that breakfast was at 7:40 am and then something about 8 am. We then started joking around saying that breakfast was only 20 minutes and that we'd have to wolf down our food like Koreans do in order to make the 20 minute time limit. Little did we know that, there REALLY WAS a 20 minute time limit! LOL! We had a good laugh over that.

We then made our way down to the river, where you know I collected a couple more rocks. Yeah, my suitcase is going to be REALLY heavy!

Someone had stacked a bunch of rocks on top of each other and Ji-Eun told us that we needed to put a rock on there and make a wish. So we each did that.

We took a couple more pictures and then headed to the Andong Mask Festival. We ended up taking a taxi and then hoping a bus back into Andong. It was interesting to catch this little farm bus as local farmers would bring on board huge bags of red peppers and other things. It really was pretty cool insight into Korean farmers.

Ok seeing how long this entry is, I'll start another entry for the actual mask festival.

To be continued...

Week 5 - Jeju-do Part 2

2007-10-02T08:37:00.001-04:00

OK, so where was I? Yes, day two of the trip. Boy, I'm long winded sometimes!

So the next day, we started off at Jeolmul Tree Garden. Which is a garden area that is really big on health. So as you are walking up the mountain, they have these reflexology paths you can walk on.

As you can see, the path wasn't all that comfortable to walk on. ;o) The older people on the tour laughed at us for a bit and got way ahead of us as we tried the different rock paths. The made our way to catch up with them but got distracted by some random stone pigs that we just had to pose with. And also some random gate guardians too. Talk about a strange park!

We finally managed to catch up with the group at the mineral spring for which the park was named after, "mul" is Korean for Water.

We made it to the bus, being the LAST people again, yeesh. Anyway, the next stop on this day was at a Mongolian Circus show. Yes, this day really was just RANDOM. It was basically a horse tricks show. There was a 12 year old boy who did a lot of rather impressive tricks.

Then the next stop was for us to ride our very own horses! Apparently, because I seem to have a problem understand directions (maybe because the directions were in Korean?), I was lead around by a guy on another horse. hahaha Yes, I did think that was rather funny seeing how I do know how to ride horses, but hey, maybe Korean Horses don't understand English. ;o) Before we had our "ride" we took some pictures together.

So after all that, we went to lunch. Where we had the famous Jeju black pig. Which was called, "Dong Dey-gi" by Koreans by the way. This will be important information for later. Anyway, the meal was really good. I would say that this dish ranked really high on my foods to recommend to foreigners list....

So after this meal, we went to a Jeju Folk village / Marketing area. Yeah, I know, I'll explain. This "Folk Village" was really just a place to corner tourists and give you a 30 minute spiel about how wonderful these products are for your health. However, they do give you a 30 minute history lesson about a typical Jeju village. Well, at this village, there was a Jeju Dong Dey-gi.

Yes, this pig is really cute, isn't it? Well, then I was given a little lesson. Dong means "shit" and Dey-gi means "pig" and this little stinker gets its name not because it rolls in its own poop....no....it's because this pig EATS the poop of the villagers. Yes, that's right. The pig is the local sewage system and after it gets nice and fat, this little guy is eaten by the villagers. Yes, lovely. Sometimes, ignorance is bliss.

So after that little lesson, we drove to Ilchul Land, which has this huge cave and some other little attractions. The cave was interesting, had an awesome dragon carving on one of the cave columns.

Then we ran around the park, looking at all the plants and their greenhouse that had a huge and rather random cactus garden. I think my favorite were the little stone people, reminded me of the cycladic figures that Kim saw in Greece. Who me, like rocks?! Naww!!

Then it was hurry back on the bus to head to Seopjikoji Beach. Which we couldn't actually get down to the water but I did get some pretty awesome pictures.

This was a location for some Korean Drama called "All in" which sounded a lot like the "Thornbirds." A Priest who was in love with this woman, next to a beautiful coast, yeah...

After that, we made a random stop as we waited for someone from another tour to get off the boat and join our group. So then we headed to eat dinner caught by the famous Jeju women divers. The speciality was raw fish and something else. Honestly, I just couldn't get over the psychological aspect of knowing I was eating raw fish and only managed to get one piece down, gagging the entire time.

I think I might have grossed Ji-Eun out with my gagging, because she didn't eat much more after that. We ended up giving our food to the other people on our tour.

Since everyone else was eating, Ji-Eun and I went out to the Ocean and saw some really cool sea shells. So I started picking up a whole bunch, as I totally saw it as an opportunity to make necklaces out of them. I'm sure CC is happy that I'm finding more work for her to do. hahaha Oh, by the way, I got several compliments for my Jade necklace CC made for me. :o) Ji-Eun and I had a lot of fun playing with the shells on the bus.

Well, after all that, we were dropped off at the airport to wait for a couple hours for our plane. While we were waiting, the cutest little boy came up to me and said, "Hello. How are you?" So as a prize, we gave him American Chocolate and a Quarter for his efforts.

Well, that just made him our best friends! He gave us both Jeju vitamin C tablets and a little watermelon that has a little blue bug in it and a sticker that says, "I (heart) you." (made in China) haha He was just really cute, just coming up to me speaking Korean and I had NO idea what the heck he was saying but he was cute and very polite.

A great way to end a great trip in any case!

More Pictures here!

Bye Christine!!

2007-10-02T08:30:00.001-04:00

One of our American exchange students, Christine, had to go back to the US today. Her grandmother is rather ill and she wanted to be there with her.

On Monday night, the Dormitory area had a festival and so she was able to see a little bit of Korean culture, karaoke singing, Tae Kwon Do, and drink a bit of Soju. She had a send off of Korean Karaoke, with some guy pulling tissues out of his crotch, don't know what that was about, but ok, definitely a bit memorable.

I also bought her a box of the Korean favorite, Choco-Pie, for her trip back to the US of A. Hopefully, it will last her to the US. Those things are very addicting and very dangerous if you're on a diet! ;o)

We'll miss you Christine!!

More pictures here.

Week 5 - Jeju-Do Part 1

2007-09-28T03:51:00.001-04:00

So on Monday, Ji-Eun and I headed to Jeju. I was a bit concerned because I heard that the island was really flooded because of the Typhoon 4 days earlier, but honestly you really couldn't tell that a typhoon actually hit. Wild.

So we met our tour guide and headed to the hotel and then headed out to go visit a museum called Loveland. We were headed back to hotel but our taxi driver was really very informative and so we got to go on the "Mysterious Road." Which turns out it an optical illusion road. You look like you are going uphill but if you cut the engine off (which he did) you actually roll UP hill. That was really wild.

Then he recommended that we go to "Old Jeju" for dinner. So we did, and ended up at an Italian Restaurant to eat dinner. We walked around in the dark for a bit, climbing over various lava rocks, which of course I picked up several. :o)

The next day, we had breakfast and headed on our action packed tour. The tour was completely in Korean so I had NO idea what was going on. I just went with the flow or poked Ji-Eun to translate. She's like Kim, hates paying attention. haha

Our first trip was to Hallsan, which is the huge inactive volcano in the center of the island. It was raining very lightly so we put on some rain jackets, which was just like the character SamSoon wore in the Korean TV show. So Ji-Eun and I had fun reenacting the scenes from the movie, while all the other people in the group were trying to figure out if we were in need of some sort of psychotic drugs. ;o)

We didn't actually go to the top of the mountain 'cuz we needed to go to our next stop, Chinese Circus. Which is just rather random to me, but ok. They had a rather awesome trick where they had 8 motorcycles doing tricks inside this enclosed ball.

After the circus, we headed to a Green Tea farm. Ji-Eun and I walked around at what we thought was a fast pace, but turns out we were holding up the bus. Yeesh! So they started giving us time limits so we knew when to head back to the bus.

After that, we went to a place called "Spirit Garden." Basically a small plant garden that allows you to meditate while you take care of them. The plants were very beautiful, I just loved how so many of the plants were entwined with stone. Too bad I can't bring any back to the US.

So after having a really awesome lunch there, we headed to a state run Orange Grove. Where I bought this rather expensive mushroom tea for my mother, suppose to be really good for your health.

Then it was off to our next destination. Sanbangsan, which was just so beautiful. I took a lot of pictures of the various inlets. Ji-Eun and I were going to go off farther along the coast but the tour guide pointed us back to the bus. :oP

We had an option of doing a submarine trip or doing something else. We decided we wanted to the submarine trip. Which was just awesome. The water was just so beautiful. I really wanted to go swimming the entire time I was there but nope, no place for us to even do that.

Our last trip of the day was for us to go see this Magpie bridge. There was a myth that went with it but I don't remember what it was. The bridge definitely had a very high arch! Which you could see the waterfall from.

The Waterfall was really beautiful!!

I will have finish up part 2 when I return from this weekend's trip! You will have to wait until then to see the rest of the pictures! Muhahaha!

An-yong!

Week 5 - Recap

2007-09-28T03:39:00.001-04:00

Did you guys miss me? ;o)

This was a rather eventful week and I'm about to go to another event (Andong Mask Festival). I need to get my stuff together for it in a couple of minutes actually. So I will have to just kinda write what I can for now.

So on Friday, I took the "Slow" train to Busan. The train was like 10 minutes slower than the bullet train. haha! Turns out it is because between Daegu and Busan, the Bullet train really can't get up to speed. The big difference in speed would be from Busan to Seoul, which by KTX (Bullet Train) takes about 2 hours, and the other train takes about 8 or 9 hours. O_O

The ride was pretty uneventful, which is always good. I arrived at my Aunt's home and met my cousin from China. She was in Korea because her sister was dying from Diabetes. I wanted to see her in the hospital but I think that the family really wanted to keep me away from seeing her in her condition. I did meet my other cousin in the hospital lobby though, he was just really happy to see me. He said he and I were really great friends when we were kids, but unfortunately, I don't remember him. :o( He was rather tickled to see me, just blabbering in Korean to me, which I unfortunately couldn't understand. Talk about frustrating. And no, I didn't get a photo of him. Grr!!

Anyway, so my Aunt and Uncle took off on Saturday to my Uncle's family's home for Chusok. So Hay Hun Un-ne (Un-ne is older sister), took us to her friend's home and then to this really nice beach. Where Ji-Eun and I explored while Hay Hun Un-ne and her friend chatted up a storm.

There was this man who was sitting there making some sort of sugar and baking soda "cookie" and Ji-Eun insisted that I do this. So I sat on this really SHORT stool, can't believe how inflexible I am! So you sit there and he presses a little heart into the hot "cookie" and you are suppose to take a little pin and cut out the heart shape without breaking the cookie. Ji-Eun and I manage to both get the first one, and if you get it, then he gives you another cookie. Basically, you keep getting free cookies until you break the cookie. Well, I broke the 2nd cookie but Ji-Eun got the 2nd cookie, but she stopped at the 2nd cookie. The cookie tasted like burnt caramel.

Then we went off to the Pavilion by the sea and took several pictures.

I noticed that there were some fishermen, so we walked down along the rocky coast (picked up some stones there...hehe) and then climbed as far as we dared and took pictures. Then we made our way back to the beach to be picked up for dinner. Which, we went to a fancy Italian restaurant and had spaghetti. Hay Hyun Un-ni is so very kind, and she invited me to go visit her in China. :o)

On Sunday, well, shoot, I can't remember what we did on Sunday. LOL! I know we were running around downtown. hmm...Ok I do remember that we watched a Korean card game movie, but honestly don't remember what else.

On Monday, we slept in and then got ready for our flight to Jeju-do. The "Do" part is letting you know that it's a Korean equivalent of a State. So in the US it would be Virginia-do.

More BUSAN Pictures.

Week 4 Recap

2007-09-21T00:03:00.001-04:00

Let's see, the highlight of my week was perhaps Tuesday when I went to Namyang School for the Disabled. :o) Later that night I met up with my Uncle and helped him wordsmith his English brochures for his products. :o) I got a free dinner and then he bought me a large veggy pizza for me and my roomie. And since I was SICK, my roommie and Eiko got to eat it all, well except for the piece that I managed to eat.

On Monday, Eiko and I got some lunch together. And we came across this field of Kimchi pots. Eiko informed me that this was the Food and Nutrition College. I think I will not say "Kimchi" when taking pictures anymore.

When we headed back, we saw some pretty cool garden art, so I had to join in with the serious garden dudes.

So Wednesday, I was rather ill and just slept and slept and slept. So really nothing to report. ;o)

Thursday, I had class and wasn't feeling dizzy where I was going to pass out all the time. My very kind Korean Language instructor took time out of her schedule to go over the material that I missed in class on Wednesday with me.

Then I actually took part in the Club Festival. I was told that the Tae Kwon Do exhibition was going to be at 6 pm, so I left around 5:30 to get a decent seat. Um...yeah, it didn't start until like 8 pm! So I got to watch a lot of people warm up.

The show was pretty much a couple of clubs showing off, such as what I've named the "Sexy Dance Club." I was rather impressed with the pyrotechnics for a University club presentation!

I think my favorite was the Sport Dancing Club. I wish I could upload movies, I took an awesome video clip of them performing to "Sex Pot."

Then in typical Korean fashion, they had their karaoke competition sprinkled through out the show. I have a little video clip of these two girls singing. One girl was rapping and the other one was singing the chorus.

Then they had a little thing where the MC pulled this guy out to the middle of the aisle and made the guy tell everyone that he loved his girlfriend. Who was REALLY embarrassed! Then he made her run to her boyfriend and he kind hugged twirled her in the air. I could tell that she was like, "You had better NOT kiss me in front of all these people!" Koreans are so modest. You can see all the people in the audience who are rather embarrassed too. haha

Then after some more Karaoke, they had the main event. The Tae Kwon Do exhibition. I have several video clips of this, which does you all no good. So here are a couple of still pictures that I took. This guy already broke the board, which is flying off to the right.

This guy was really cool. They had him all the way on the other side of the stage and had him blindfolded. They would only ring a bell to let him know where the apple was. Then he would cross the stage and then he did this back-flip, which I got a picture of him in mid-flip, and yes, he did kick the apple into several little pieces.

There was many, many more things that they did but the only way to really capture the action was via video. So until I can figure that out, you guys will have to wait!

Ok, now that I've killed some time, it's time for me to catch my train to Busan for a Chusok! Later!!

More Pictures!!

Chusok - Korean Thanksgiving

2007-09-20T19:00:00.001-04:00

I'm headed out for the week for Chusok. Right after Korean Language class, I'm headed to eat and then to the train station to Busan. From Busan, I'm headed to Jeju Island on Monday and returning on Wednesday with my cousin.

I won't be back to Keimyung until Thursday!

Jeju is the Korean Island that is their version of Hawaii, so I'm sure I'll have some awesome pictures! Ok gotta go to class! See ya!!

CCAP - Namyang School for the Disabled

2007-09-20T10:11:00.001-04:00

So on Tuesday, I had a wonderful opportunity to talk about America with the students at the Namyang School for the Disabled. The class was absolutely wonderful.

My Interpreter, 이종현 (Lee, Jong Hyun), was an absolute angel helping me get to the school. There would have been NO way I would have gotten there on my own. Korean buses are scary!

When I got to the class, I was greeted with several of the students saying, "Hello!" I was just so surprised that they could say as much English as they did. All but 3 students could talk, and they all said, "Hello," "Thank you," and "Goodbye." Which was pretty darn good! One boy could even say, "I love you!" Which really surprised me! O_O

So my brilliant interpreter came up with Halloween as the topic for us to cover about America. So I came up with a little powerpoint presentation that went over some basic facts, basically, Korea is wayy smaller than America, and then discussed Halloween. Then we colored in the masks that Jong Hyun made the night before, she so rocks!

They had so much fun coloring the masks and then getting to wear them. After they made their masks, they all practice saying, "Trick or Treat." Once they got that done, they got to actually come up one by one and knock on the table, and say, "Trick or treat!" and get some American candy from Jong Hyun and then they would have to come over to me and repeat for some more American chocolates! They REALLY liked that!

This little boy was one of the ones who couldn't speak very well, but he managed to actually say "Trick or Treat." I guess American Candy is a pretty good motivator! I was so just happy for him!

Class picture with our masks on!! The boy in the Red Sox Jersey was the one who could say, "I love you!" The girl with the pink sweater could speak English very well and actually knew some Chinese words as well! She was perhaps the smartest in the class, after all, she's the one who wants me to come back to the school again! ;o)

I just absolutely enjoyed my time with the class. This is definitely a memory that I will have with me when I think of Korea.

More pictures!!

Feeling better

2007-09-20T08:43:00.000-04:00

Thank you all for sending me Reiki and all those good luck vibes. I feel so much better! Of course, I sound totally hoarse but at least I can actually stay awake for more than 2 hours!

My Korean Language teacher totally rocks! She suggested that we meet today so that I could get the lesson that I missed yesterday in today, so I wouldn't be behind. Isn't she totally sweet?! Turns out, she and I are the same age so she totally understands about my issue with trying to retain the Korean language, she has the same problem with the English language. She claims it's an age thing. hahaha! And she has a sense of humor too! ;o)

I did some rather cool things today so I will write about them soon.

Survey Says...

2007-09-20T08:29:00.000-04:00

I will hold off on my posts until AFTER I've uploaded the pictures.

Thank you all for voting. :o)

I'm Sick

2007-09-18T23:07:00.001-04:00

So today, I missed Korean Language class 'cuz I felt so horrible. I've got a sinus infection and was rather feverish through the night. I slept until about 11 am today and was going to try to take a shower but remembered there is only cold water. So I e-mailed my other professor to let him know I won't be making his class as well. Just plan on taking some more Tylenol and going to sleep. I think my body needs it.

Um...yeah...

2007-09-17T04:35:00.001-04:00

So I've decided that I'm not going to answer any questions from people who do not leave me at the minimum their initials. It's not fair to me as I don't know who is asking the questions.

Guam Farmer's Village: An Invitation to Korean Culture

2007-09-16T00:26:00.001-04:00

So on the VERY rainy Saturday, I'm talking about it rained ALL DAY LONG.

A couple of us took part in Daegu's Invitation to Korean Culture. Despite the rain, it really was a lot of fun. Would have taken some pictures of us doing the apple picking but the rain prohibited us from pulling the camera out as often as I'd like. Also, several people's camera battery died or they forgot their camera so I took pictures of them too. So that's why you'll see a lot of pictures of Tea (pronounced "Te-ya"), Markus, and Hannah.

The entire event was filmed, which I found rather annoying, because they got really up in our faces, plus I was rather uncomfortable with strangers taking pictures of me. :oP The villagers, actually greeted us at the bridge and were yelling, "Welcome! Welcome!" and one young girl yelled out, "I love you!" which is why Christian turned around in this picture, wondering in amazement why they were so excited. My guess was because of the camera crew.

They split us into 3 groups. White, Yellow and Pink rain jackets, which we had to wear, which annoyed me as it wasn't that great at keeping you dry. I didn't actually get to ditch it until after I already got soaked for several hours and put on my blue heavy duty rain poncho that I brought from the US. So other than the crappy rain jackets, the place was absolutely awesome! And this entire event was FREE!

The first thing we got to do is Natural dying. We put on these pink aprons and gloves, and then had our choices between using Yellow Dirt (which I did) that dyes the handkerchief orange, or you could use Onion Peel method which dyes it a yellow color, or you could use smoked ash tree to get a gray color.

Afterward, we walked to pick some chestnuts. Those things are SO prickly! You have to kind of stomp on the prickly outside shell and it will open up where you can pick out the yummy chestnuts. I filled my bag to the brim. While we were waiting for the others to get finished with their bags, Hannah and I spied a Persimmon tree. So Hannah asked if she could get one and they said "Sure." So she got her Persimmon and happily ate it.

LOL! She'd probably kill me for posting this picture. It's too damn cute not to!

Afterward, we went to go pick our 3 apples, which no pictures from there because I didn't want my camera to get wet or even worse, end up in the mud.

Then we had a delicious lunch. Everything was pretty much grown right there on the farm. Oh man was it sooo good.

So after eating Be-bim-bap and Bul-gogi, and farm fresh apples and grapes, and sweet potatos, they kicked us out of the building so they could clean up and we could make rice cakes for the wedding.

Each table got a woman who showed us how to make rice cakes. They did EVERYTHING, from helping us pick chestnuts and apples and dye things, to making our lunch, fixing the rice cakes and also participating in the farmer's band. These women were amazing!

After making our rice cakes, we went and watched the Korean wedding. They picked an American couple to be the groom and bride. What was really cool, was this was the day of their 2nd anniversary! How cool was that?!

So the custom is that the groom arrives first and has to wait a long time. Then the bride is carried to the wedding but along the way, the guys carrying the bride pass out and say they can't carry the bride any father because they're so hungry and thirsty. So the bride's mother gives the guys Soju (Korean Rice Alcohol, kinda like vodka) and they revive and finish carrying the bride to the wedding hall.

Then they have the really long ceremony, which I really couldn't see because of everyone standing up. Which gave me time to snap pictures of everything else and grab some coffee. :o)

Then we all took turns trying on the Korean wedding costumes. Here's me with my costume! Yeah, the Korean photographer was really enjoying taking a picture of me in this outfit. :oP

After trying on outfits. They had the farmer's band. Which was so much fun, especially watching all the Older Korean women getting down with their bad self! They played for at least an hour and then they played all the way to our buses. They were so cute! Definitely a perfect ending to the entire event! I wish I could post my video clip that I took of the Farmer's Band.

More pictures!

Week 3 Recap

2007-09-15T08:40:00.001-04:00

Yes, how about that, me doing just recaps of all the "exciting" events this week.

Let's see, I've been invited by Jo-Jo to participate in a weekly 1 to 2 hour conversation session with 2 of his Korean friends who want to improve their English speaking skills with a Native English speaker. So I agreed. The three of them are Tourism majors, which means they'll tell me about places to travel around Korea. :o) Works for me! I'll be sure to get a picture of them next time we meet.

On Wednesday, Christine and I were the ONLY people who showed up for "Korean Boudoir Art." Which we had NO idea what that was, until we showed up. Pretty much it was Korean needlepoint. We made cute little cell phone pillows and because we were the only ones to show up. We got a special gift of a little handkerchief with our names on it. I asked that my name be in Korean characters as well. :o)

We got our passports back, FINALLY! I was going to go pick up my train ticket to Busan, but I think I will need a translator with me. I have SO much homework though, that I think since I'm so tired tonight that I will go ahead and take a hot shower and just go to bed, put a note on the door that says, "I am SICK and need my sleep. DO NOT KNOCK ON MY DOOR!" Stupid curfew!

On Thursday, I had lunch with Eiko and dang it, can't remember the other girl's name, she's Japanese too. Eiko is a floor leader and is the same age as myself, she is working on a Master's Degree here at Keimyung. She is super sweet and keeps insisting that she isn't, even though she paid for my lunch and got me the hook-up with the WORKS on my mochacino. That was really crazy looking and really too sweet.

We ended up meeting up with Hannah and going to E-mart. See what happens when you say, "I will NEVER go to E-mart again." You end up going to E-mart. E-mart was interesting. There was some sort of group protesting American beef, kept seeing FTA. Being in transportation for so long, I was really confused as to why they would be protesting about beef and the Federal Transportation Administration. Um...yeah...found out later it was "Free Trade Agreement." Duh.

Hannah ended up getting a Japanese side dish called "Nat-toe" which is pretty much fermented soybeans. It really didn't smell that bad, but not great either. I have loads of photos of Hannah and Kukka trying Nat-toe for the first time. It was extremely slimy, I think the little movie that I took of them eating it, was the best, but haven't figured out where to post movies yet, so I guess that will have to wait. Kukka said it was the only thing in her entire life that she couldn't eat. Man, I had so much fun laughing from their facial expressions!

While I was at E-mart, guess what I found, N...

They are roughly 50 cents a bag. Keep that in mind if you want me to send back Korean snacks!

MORE PICTURES!

Procrastinating...

2007-09-13T08:16:00.001-04:00

I really need to study my Korean Language but I'm really not feeling very motivated. I think it's 'cuz my body craves sleep SO much. Not sure if it's the AC or sinuses or what the heck is going on. I'm just so TIRED. >.<

I had lunch with two Japanese students. It was very enjoyable. They called me "Britannica" because according to them, I know everything. They've assured me that they're not calling me a know-it-all, but that it was a compliment. I will write more about that later when I've downloaded my pictures onto my computer and upload them onto Shutterfly. So I can accompany my blog entries with photos. I think it's more interesting that way, don't you?

Ah ha! I can put in polls. Let's vote shall we? You have 6 days to decide how you would like for me to post entries. Vote wisely, young Jedi, the future depends on you. The poll can be found directly to the left of the screen.

Also, I want to thank everyone for posting a comment to my blog. I really do like the feedback. :o)

The Ugly "American"

2007-09-13T07:32:00.001-04:00

Just a little commentary on some observations I have made.

I'm sure that this might be a surprise to many of you, but to Koreans I am very obviously an American. In fact, I can't tell you how many Koreans are just totally floored by the fact that I am half-Korean. I find this a bit perplexing as I am so obviously Asian to many Americans, you would think the Koreans would see the Asian side of me, but I was told by several Koreans they thought I had Indian (from India) blood in me, but most definitely American.

Unfortunately, most Koreans think that those who are Anglo-Saxon looking are always Americans, even if they are not. As an American, I thought it was amusing at first, until I met someone who is not American and is rather rude in behavior and attitude. With the little bit of Korean that I do know, I kept hearing Koreans muttering something and then mentioning "mee-guk" with a sour look on their faces. "Mee-guk" is Korean for American. Not cool.

I've had several conversations with various people about teaching English here in Korea. Apparently if you work 1 hour a week for two weeks, you would get paid something like $750. However, the catch is, they want Native English speakers. Not bad money at all, but how many of us Native English speakers can really teach English? I would say very little of us could go beyond breaking down nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives and objectives, well, at least I can't really.

Yet, I have heard of several people who are not even Native English speakers and can barely speak English, who are passing themselves off as Native Speakers and teaching "English" to Korean children. I was introduced to one such person who is from Russia, who I could barely understand, who was earning money teaching English. One has to wonder if it was her blonde hair that got her the job, as that is what Koreans consider the "typical" American woman, as her English speaking ability was really quite sub-par.

But more than that, what about the children? These children and their parents believe that they are being taught by an "American" teacher. What sort of ideas are they starting to form about Americans in their early little lives?

As a world traveler, I can say from experience, that I have met MANY ugly Americans on my journeys, so I'm not saying that Americans are great representatives of themselves in other countries. However, to have someone be labeled as an American when they are not and especially when they are behaving badly, I feel like it's almost my duty as an American citizen to tell the Koreans that the person really isn't from America. Granted, we have more than our share of rude idiots, but we don't need to embrace the whole world's group of idiots.

I haven't figured out how to handle the situation, but I feel comforted by the fact that I am participating in CCAP, where I can give the Korean students an example of a polite American. Well, one can only hope they perceive me in that way, anyway. ;o)

Sunday - Dalseong Park

2007-09-11T07:50:00.001-04:00

So Sue Hyun and I headed back to campus so we could meet up with my Aunts and Ji-Eun, around 10 am and we had decided to pop into the local bookstore as I was told they were going to be there around Noon. I figured I was safe with like 2 hour window to get back and then I get a phone call asking me where I am, because they are at my room waiting for me. Oh @#$#%!!!

So I go running to catch the next subway and leave Sue Hyun to continue looking for English study books for her students. I told them it would take me about 30 minutes to get there and then they wanted to talk with Sue Hyun because they were thinking about meeting me downtown but no, I didn't have my translator with me, so I told them to wait there. They thought that I would be at the other subway station near the campus (which I was not) and so they waited for me at the main gate when I was in fact, at KELI house. hahahaha So I ended up giving them a call asking them where THEY were and they came to get me at KELI house. See why speaking the language is so important?

So my aunt loads me up with ALL this food. With a lot of granola and Hershey Miniature Chocolates sent via my mother. I'll be using the Chocolates for the little program that I signed up to volunteer for called CCAP (Cross-Cultural Awareness Program). This program is where I go local schools and tell them about America through a Korean Student Interpreter.

Wow isn't that strange, I just got a phone call from them and they asked me if I could give a talk on Tuesday to a bunch of students at a mentally handicapped school. Cool! So I guess I know what I'm doing on Tuesday. :o)

Anyway, here is the stash of goodies I got from my Aunt, my mother and from Sue Hyun's mom.

Yeah, I think I'm good for a while...what do you think?

So after getting that all sorted out, we made our way to Dalseong Park, the park of our ancestor's the Seo clan. Honestly, the park was really very sad. It was a free zoo, and all the animals looked really pitiful. :o(

On the plus side, we did see the shrine dedicated to the Seo family with the Seo women. :o)

Here's one with me and my other Aunt, known to me as "Chanhunnie Uma" (Chan Hun's mother).

I thought it was interesting that the shrine would be a turtle with something coming out of it's back. They have something similar in Cherokee Indian Reservation but it's a Native American man who is standing on the back of a turtle.

It was rather hot, so my Aunts decided to sit in the shade, while Ji-Eun and I walked around the park. Took quite a lot of pictures but you could tell the animals were really too hot and honestly looked bad. Ji-Eun and I decided to get an ice cream and there was a bear looking at us all pitiful that Ji-Eun broke off a piece of her ice cream and threw it in his direction and he caught it perfectly. So she did that a couple of times while I was trying to get a picture of him catching it. This was the best one picture that I took.

Well besides the pitiful looking animals, they had a statue to a Reverend Choi Je-u, who was martyred by the Korean Government for being a Christian a while back. Apparently, in Daegu they actually have a Martyr's Tower in memory of all the Christian Martyrs in Korea. Sue Hyun's mother told me that every section of town has at least one Catholic Church and there are many, many Presbyterian Churches as well.

After the fun little adventure in Dalseong Park, we managed to get ourselves to Mister Pizza. Which I have heard from everyone in Korea, has the best Pizzas. They have like 3 pizzas that you can choose from, a veggie one, a shrimp one and a sweet potato one. We got the sweet potato pizza, which comes with a slice of regular potato, bacon, tons of cheese, sour cream and in the crust is mashed sweet potato. OHMIGOD is it yummy!!

So after eating that really yummy meal, we headed back to campus, where I was told to clean my room every day and do wash my laundry (which I was going to do after they left anyway, but all the washing machines in my dorm are OUT OF ORDER - le sigh). Then we joked around a bit, via body language and also interpretation from Ji-Eun, they headed off back to Busan.

They are so loving and caring.

You know, I have really been blessed this weekend with the kindness of so many people and got to experience so much. I am so very thankful for everyone and everything that I got to experience. This trip has been amazing and it just keeps getting better. :o)

MORE PICTURES HERE.

Saturday - Mount Palgonsan

2007-09-11T07:02:00.001-04:00

I guess saying "Mount" before Palgonsan is kinda redundant as "san" means "mountain" in Korean, but eh, whatcha gonna do?

So on Friday after that wonderful shopping adventure, I met up with my roommate, Sue Hyun, and we headed to her home for the weekend. Where I met her cute little dog, Joseph, who is now my dog. Yes, that's right, Sue Hyun, he's mine now.

Her mother made quite possibly the hottest (as in spicy) 떡볶이 (Tteokbokgi) I have ever eaten in Korea, thus far. OHMIGOD, I believe that I could actually breathe fire after eating that. But man, is it good. Tteok-bok-gi is basically rice cake that is cylindrical in shape and maybe 2 inches in length in a spicy sauce. Apparently, people in Daegu like their foods VERY SPICY!

Her mother also spoiled me with some real bacon (American style) and chicken in the morning. Ahhh it was so delicious.

Afterwards, we went to Donghwasa Temple. Apparently, the legend is that a Phoenix use to live in the temple area. The temple has a fairly modern Buddhist school and also the largest standing Buddha statue in the world (thanks to the Taliban, who blew up the tallest statue a few years back).

I think besides the tall Buddha statue, the had the coolest looking dragon designs all over the temple area.

Ok so what you all have been waiting for! The largest standing Buddha statue in the WORLD!!

OK not the greatest picture, but it's a like the only decent group picture of us. There is Sue Hyun's mom and cousin (who was tagging along to practice his English with me, but was too shy to really talk to me), and then me and Sue Hyun (look at her posing).

Man, I wish I could of had someone standing there so you could see the height difference. Ah well, to give you an idea, a person of my height standing next to the statue (5'1") would come up to the bottom railing of the little stone fence going around it.

Oh and did anyone else notice the Orange and Maroon mat? hmmm? It's a cushioned surface for the people who are there to do some prayers.

Then we went off to ride the cable car. Which was rather fun and yet a little scary at the same time. At the top of the mountain, we met two cute little girls who came up to me and said "Hello. What is your name?" And I told the girl my name was "Jenny" and she just smiled brightly, "That's my English name too!" She told me that she was 7 years old and that her sister's English name was "Mary." They were so cute, and I was sad that I forgot to bring my US coins to hand out to them. Ah well, will do that next time.

Then, we went off to eat a very famous dish called "Nengmyeum" which is like a cold buckwheat noodle dish. It was very tasty. mmmm and is really famous in that area of South Korea. Apparently, it's a dish that you have especially in the summer time, since it's nice and cold. mmmmm

So afterward, we went back home and took little Joseph for a walk by the river. Then Sue Hyun and I watched Inyuasha in Korean for the rest of the night! Woohooo!! Yeah, she totally hated translating the show for me, but what a totally good sport. :o)

MORE PICTURES HERE.