sick kitty and the beach

46 hours until my 5 day vacation. I'm sooooo excited. Haven't had a break in the 7 months since I got to Korea! Going with some friends to the beach. It's cold and rainy right now... but looks like it should be 65 and cloudy, then warm up to the upper 70's. Nice!!

I had a great weekend last week. Went to a baseball game with some friends, bar hopping, shopping in Insadong, to Yeouido to see the Cherry blossom festival, walked along the river, went to traditional korean BBQ with friends.... and probably a few other things. That may have been the best weekend since I got here. I love the warmer weather, it's nice to get out and explore.

Unfortunately the weekend ended with the kitty getting sick. He has been throwing up a lot, so we took him to the vet. Turns out he has some kind of infection and his white blood cells are three times the normal level. It's been a rough week of medical tests and medicine for the little guy. Fingers crossed for his full recovery!

Numb is good

I've got big changes happening. I made some big choices. I'm sticking to my choices. Some people may think I'm right... some may think I'm wrong. At the end of the day I have to do what is best for me. I've been going through the motions, but nothing is really sinking it yet. I made choices that will affect my life tremendously, and I'm still too numb to be upset. Nothing will change in my day-to-day life for a while, even though my mind is made up. I'm living in limbo. I'm in a suspended state... waiting for someone to push the "play" button. Lucky for me, good ole Momma helped me realize the words I am saying now... I'll have to live by them. Thanks mom, I was rather enjoying being numb.

For now, I'll sit and listen to some sad songs. I'll cry a little. I'll brush myself off and realize I'll be ok. I'm a tough cookie.... I've been through worse than my current troubles.

I just need to look at the bigger picture. I'm making the right choices. I'm taking the high ground. I'm strong. I will be ok.



Current soundtrack (which has been on repeat for hours now):

1,2,3,4- The Plain White T's
Wagon Wheel- Old Crow Medicine Show
Goodbye to You- Michelle Branch
Only You- Portishead
As you Sleep- Something Corporate
Call it Karma- Silverstein
Pretty Girl- Sugarcult
The Engine Driver- The Decemberists
Tears Don't Fall- Bullet for my Valentine

Music says everything I can't.


Aided by ignorance.
I put myself on this journey.

photobooth fun!

The pain of having a broken heart is not so much as to kill you, yet not so little as to let you live.

Korean School

Not much new to report. Spent yesterday shopping and hanging out in the market. Today we went down to the Han river and walked for 3 hours. The weather was absolutely perfect. We saw animals, families, kites, swan boats, water skiing, wind surfing, the outdoor public gym, tons of people climbing the giant rock wall, playgrounds, bikes galore, and a few fellow foreigners even. The river is the place to be on the weekend! I love that is was packed full of people, but still felt like a break from the cement sidewalks I see day in and day out. I always thought of Phoenix as a "big city" before I moved here. I haven't seen grass in 7 months now. Phoenix seems rural compared to this place.

I had a conversation with one of my advanced classes about school lunches on Friday. I found it so interesting! In Korea, all children eat at school. They are provided with one lunch option. They said it's typically rice and vegetables with kimchi. Sometimes they have fish or some kind of meat as well. I asked them what happens if a student doesn't like something served for lunch. They were taken aback by such a question. They didn't understand the concept of picky eaters. They explained at school, at home, or a restaurant you eat what is served to you, no questions asked. If you don't like it... too bad. Then I asked about allergies. What is a child is allergic to peanuts, dairy, or gluten? They were also confused by this concept. I had to explain food allergies, to which they replied that just isn't an issue here. They don't know any adults or children with food allergies.

This makes me think America is doing something to mess our kids up. Think about when your parents were younger.... did they have "peanut free schools?" You bet your ass they didn't. Kids didn't have these gluten and peanut and who-knows-what-else allergies 50 years ago. These allergies aren't problems in other countries. So what are we doing wrong? Is it the pesticides? Is it these crazy parents catering to every food whim their child has? I need to do some research on this!

While I'm on the topic of elementary school in Korea I want to briefly describe the first day of school here. I had to go to the opening ceremonies (yes, that's what it's called) to hand out information about my school. The school year starts in February here, instead of August like America. So I showed up with my Korean co-worker to an elementary school and I was so surprised at the commotion. There was music, an MC, street vendors, balloons, balloon animals, cotton candy, flower stands, and who knows what else! This is totally normal here in Korea. The first day of school is just a giant ceremony and pep rally (and kind of looked like a circus). Parents (a surprising amount of fathers) take the day off work and go to the school. They have a tradition of writing their hopes for the school year on a piece of paper, then tying the paper to a balloon and releasing it. It was amazing to see! So, that's your Korean culture lesson for the day. My Korean co-worker explained that starting the new school year is a huge deal here, and dad's are more likely to take that day off work than for their kids birthdays or other functions.

Bye!

ch-ch-ch-changesssss

I'm so ready for my next adventure. I put all my fears aside and realized I need to do what it takes to make ME happy. No one else will do that for me! Now that I'm getting past the fear of the unknown, I'm getting excited for my next chapter. I'm sure big and awesome things are coming for me soon :-)

I've got my ambition, my cat, and an awesome family who supports me!

Best weekend in a while!

This weekend was fabulous, and the best part is I'm taking a vacation day tomorrow so it's not over yet!! I'm getting my hair done and (hopefully) getting to the optometrist to get some new contacts. Ahhh vacation days! This is my first one and it's muchhhhh needed!

Anyway, this weekend has been the best weekend in a LONG time. The weather was absolutely gorgeous (55-60 degrees compared to the 35 it has been) so we decided to take full advantage. Yesterday we got up and had to take the kitty to the vet for his monthly heart worm and flea medicine. After that we went to the outdoor market with Alicia and did some shopping. The market was packed and loud, just the way I like it! After the market we came back and relaxed for a little while then decided we should finally take that double-decker night tour of Seoul. We did the day tour and loved it! Unfortunately the night tour wasn't as exciting, but we got to learn a lot of history about the bridges over the river and see a few interesting sights. It was a fun way to spend a Saturday evening, even if it wasn't all we hoped for!

Today was super busy! We woke up really early and talked to my mama! I gave her a recipe for some of my favorite cupcakes, can't wait to hear if she liked them! Later we decided it would be a good day to go to Technomart, that giant (8 stories) electronics store. I needed some backup memory to store all my photos. My computer has been acting up and if it happens to crash I don't want to lose all my pictures! I would be devastated. I have 10 thousand photos on here, spanning over 5 years! I knew I took a lot of pictures, now I have the solid proof! ;-) We ended up getting a lot more than some memory!

Those of you who know me well know I was a photographer for around 7-8 years. It was my passion. It was my major in art school, and my major in college for a while. I lived to be in the dark room, it was my "happy place." In 2005 I was robbed and the person stole all my cameras, all my lenses, my portfolio, my negatives, as well as the framed work I had. I was beyond devastated. It's one of the worst things that ever happened to me. Cameras are replaceable, 7 years worth of negatives and portfolio work were not. I decided to give it up. It was too late to start over.

So, today, after some gentle nudging from me, Nick bought a DSLR. This isn't quite as captivating as having my own darkroom and a real SLR camera, but it's very, very close. I'm SOOO stoke to have an SLR in my hands again, even if it's digital! We decided to go to the best Buddhist temple in the city to break her in. I was on cloud 9!! Not only was the temple beautiful, but I was able to take some REAL photographs! AHHH! EXCITING!!! I may very well have to pick up my own eventually and get back into photography. I guess it's never too late to start over, and there is no better time than now.

So, that was the end to my wonderful weekend. Poor nick only took about 20 pictures, then handed the new baby over to me! I'm still trying to work out the settings for this camera, so if I captured anything good I'll post it online!

Well, time to go clean house..... see you all next time.