When I first saw this video by DBSK (동방신기) I was mortified. I didn’t understand the mittens, the headbands, the ties, or the penguin back-up dancers.
I still don’t understand it, but after several hundred viewings, I have completely succumbed to their saccharin smiles and cheesy dance moves.
Similar to a Picasso or Liza Minelli dance routine, at first you wonder what the hell you’re looking at, but after a while the brilliance seeps in and you are one.
I’ve been wanting to write about my fat-ness for a long time, but to be honest, there’s too much to write about and I get overwhelmed…
When I came to Korea I was fat, I’ll admit it. My last couple of years in America were not a vision of health. But in the last 11 months, I’ve lost over 50 lbs, and I’m starting to feel good about myself.
At least, I feel good about myself until I see things like this: a drawing of all the teachers where everyone is depicted as a stick-figure except for Teacher Adam who apparently is fat enough to wear mumus.
I had written a long post about the somewhat rocky relationship we had over the years… but my server went down and I lost it all (thank you God).
I’m not going to re-write everything, but I will say that over the last year I was able to shed some of my self-absorption (thank you Buddha)… and because of that I got to talk to Grandmother more than I have in the last 10 years.
I’ll never forget her honesty and her pragmatism.
And so now I am struck with a case of severe homesickness as I want to be with my family for the funeral and for the Fourth of July.
My Friend from the Philippines visited this weekend. So, after a day at temple, we decided to walk through downtown Daegu. Of course, something fun happened… I got to see Cabaret performed in Korean, which is probably the next best thing to seeing Liza.
It made me miss my good friend Tom, who never lets a Liza moment pass without telling me about it.
Here’s the awesome video.
As an added bonus, here’s the video of when I actually got to see Liza doing Cabaret.
It’s a good day to be on Facebook… and it’s a good day to be one of the 16 allied nations that helped South Korea in their war with the North in 1950.
If you are like me and from one of the allied nations of Turkey, Ethiopia, Thailand, Philippines, Belgium, New Zealand, Colombia, Luxembourg, Australia, Greece, The Netherlands, France, South Africa, Canada, UK, or USA; you too can join in for a romantic evening of speed dating at the War Memorial of Korea commemorating the 60th anniversary of the Korean War!
What better way to meet a future lover, spouse, or partner? It certainly takes away the awkwardness of the first date — where to eat? what movie to see? Now you can simply browse heavy artillery while comparing grenades. And, if you’re lucky, you can snatch your first kiss beside an Armored Amphibious Combat Vehicle.
“This special event is being offered at no cost to participants as a way of showing gratitude and appreciation for the soldiers who sacrificed their youth and lives for the sake of Korea’s freedom and security.”
I just hope someone from Luxembourg is there… to celebrate freedom.
Math and science were always my best subjects… which is why I majored in English and minored in Business Administration.
Once I decided on my major I didn’t really see the need for my other core classes. When I had to pick a lab science I chose geology because it was supposed to be the easiest. ”All the football players take geology,” I heard.
But then I inadvertently registered for a really good teacher (i.e., REALLY hard teacher), became obsessed with the subject, and ended up writing a formal complaint the following year when my Geology 201 teacher was too easy.
And today I see this video (from WIRED) of the Kileuea volcano in Hawaii. I don’t know how they captured it, but it’s amazing.
I went to Hawaii when I was 8. I remember walking on the volcano and picking out a piece of pumice to take home. I was so excited. I kept that thing for years. Of course, I never saw anything like this.
I also remember there being pink flamingos outside our hotel door… I remember my sister and I eating an entire gift platter of chocolate really quickly when my parents were out so that they wouldn’t know it had been delivered… and I remember my entire family making fun of me for snorkeling in the swimming pool approximately 12 hours each day.
As usual, I got out of work at 11pm on Friday. I went straight to bed because I had to wake up at 5am to catch the bus to Seoul. But I was nervous; I couldn’t sleep. I woke up late and missed the 6am bus.
After three hours, I arrived in East Soul and, after one hour and a few more subway transfers, arrived at my first interview. I was sweaty and due to lack of sleep (and a nice little pimple that showed up the previous day beneath my right eye) my eyes looked like a 53 year old on a three-day drinking binge.
Left the first interview and made a beeline to the nearest coffee shop before heading to the second interview. With everything finished, I collapsed on the bus, only to find myself sitting beside a couple who desperately wanted to watch the television show on full volume — this despite me saying “I hate you” in the international language of The Glare.
After spending 14 hours on buses, trains, and their respective stations, I was ready for bed. But a friend called and we met for some beers. Then friend #2 called and we had more beer. Then friends #3, #4, and #5 called and we headed to a singing room.
After singing Patti Page and Barry Manilow (both to 100 scores), I finally headed home.
On Sunday, a friend and I went to Gounsa — a very nice temple near Andong. I really enjoyed it and can’t believe I waited so long to see it.
Donghwasa is probably my favorite temple in Korea. I love everything about it.
So for Buddha’s Birthday, I decided to make a last minute trip. It was very, very interesting, even if it wasn’t as awe-inspiring as the first time. They were doing construction on the enormous 33m Buddha, so that was a mess. And while I’m a lantern’s biggest fan, I don’t particularly care for walls of them that prevent me from seeing anything else.
In addition: I didn’t eat before I left. My legs were extremely tired. And, there were no seats on the one-hour bus ride home (not to mention that a group of really loud American college kids got on the bus right before me, making me a recipient of many angry stares as I was automatically lumped together with the other white people standing right beside me).
It did not help me achieve a state of nirvana.
But, I’m very glad I went. It was a special day in many ways.
As you may or may not know, I LOVE the Wonder Girls.
In Korea there’s no shortage of girl groups (or boy groups), but in my opinion, the Wonder Girls are a step ahead of everyone else. I still think So Hot and Nobody are the best pop songs (and videos) to come out of Korea (along with some Hyori and Son Dambi).
That being said, I was (like all of my 13 year old girl students) so incredibly disheartened when Sun Mi decided to unexpectedly quit the group earlier this year… Of course, what I didn’t account for was that my favorite Wonder Girl, Ye Eun, would step up and fill the void (just try to not love the dimples and mis-matched tights!).
So, I don’t really love this song, but it’s worth it for the video… and seriously, how could you not fall in love with them with these pictures?
After two long days in Seoul walking more than I have ever walked in my entire life, I pulled it together enough to wait it out for the Lotus Lantern Festival Parade. I’m glad I did, because I loved it.
In my former life working in politics, I attended many (MANY) parades. As a rule, I don’t like them… I’ve been scarred ever since I was forced to march for Joe Lieberman with two interns and a Joe-mobile in front of John Edwards, Elizabeth Edwards, and their enormous staff. (NB, this was BEFORE either Lieberman or Edwards took their respective nose-dives into meaninglessness… or, at least before Edwards’.)
Aside from the beautiful lanterns and beautiful hanbok — both of which make me incredibly happy — it was so nice to see so many smiles. I don’t typically get too many smiles from Koreans.
It’s not like Tennessee where you have to smile and say hello to everyone you see. And it’s not like Connecticut where you have to smile and say hello to everyone you see (who has the same skin color and socio-economic status)… I just don’t get too many hello’s in Korea. And I’m okay with that (really I am!), but it was nice to have an hour or so of endless waves.
I was also excited to try out my new Canon s90 camera, which I paid way too much money for at the Yongsan Electronics Market — learning the hard way that sometimes free trade agreements canbe quite wonderful.
I’ve always carried cheap point-and-shoots, so I was pretty pumped to finally upgrade to something with more flexibility without being enormous and forcing me to carry the badge of Fake Professional Photographer.
