Happy New Year!

Happy New Years to all but me. I am too tired I opted to stay in and watch Jersey Shore with a coworker rather than go out.

Work is wearing me down. I know a lot of people work long hours, especially my banker friends but being a teacher is like being on 24/7. A single class is like putting on a 4 hour power point presentation where you are the primary speaker. And your audience is a bunch of 14 year olds who are forced to listen by their mothers.

I have to teach them at least one thing every class, make them laugh, keep them from sleeping, entertain them. I feel like a clown sometimes.

It almost makes me miss sitting on my ass and making excel spreadsheets at Ogilvy, oh wait no I don't because Ogilvy sucked!

Anyways happy new years! I am so excited to be back in NY in 2011 and moving in with my love and being a model of domestication. Ha, who am i kidding?

Seriously?!

Mblaq's teaser for their new music video.

Ugh Can't a Teacher have an Effin Smoke?

The really, really annoying kid in my morning class to me.

It smells like cigarettes. What is that?
No it, doesn't.
Yes it does, it smells like cigarettes.
No it doesn't. Be quiet we're going over Exercise 3.

Ugh, I know that they know that I know that they know I smoke. So like STFU and let the teacher have an effin cigarette between breaks without calling me out for being a smoker.
,
My third grade teacher was an overweight, diabetic, smoker who also spit when she talked. I still liked her because she was chill (besides the whole overweight, smelly smoker, spitting thing). I def did not make a big deal out of it when I was 8 years old, mind you half the age of these kids now.

Try to teach a Korean the meaning of 'ubiquitous' and you'd be smoking too. I have to put up with you for 4 hours and 40 minutes and then you expect me to be some sort of angelic role model also? Please, I don't get paid enough to do all that.

Reason #672 why NYMag is my Bible

I saw their post for the top 38 best soups in the city. I clicked thinking if Gahm Mi Oak is not on this list, this list is bullshit.

Lo and behold #38 is the sulleongtang.

Again, I still have not had one in Seoul better than this. The only one that came close was a restaurant near Cheongyecheon stream. Still, I preferred Gahm Mi Oak's.

If you like kimchi, you need to go here. If you don't like kimchi, you need to go here to try as the benchmark of kimchi. It's the kimchi that all kimchis should aspire to be. If you still dislike their kimchi, then yes, it's official, you will never like kimchi.

They had 2 Korean soups on this list. They also listed the Samgyetang (ginseng chicken soup) at Arirang in Flushing as #13. The photo they put looks all sorts of wrong to me. I just feel like samgyetang is never as good with the clear broth, it should be more milky and rich. My grandpa's looks better.

http://newyork.grubstreet.com/2010/12/soups.html#photo=38x74130

Nouns

What's the noun form of 'trust'?
It's just 'trust,' trust is the thing, like "I have trust in you that you will write a great essay for homework."
Wait, it's not 'trustation?'

Snow!

So sad I am missing the snowstorm in the northeast right now. I would be sledding somewhere.

Eunjung

From T-ara is soo pretty/cute/hot.

So Cute

Teacher, how do you ask out a girl?
Well, you ask her if she wants to hang out and see a movie sometime.
No, how do you ask her to be your girlfriend?
You go to the movies 4 or 5 times, or take her somewhere fun and then on the 4th or 5th time you tell her that you really like her. Just see what she says as a response.
Thats it?


These kids are so cute sometimes, I die. Then I told him he can't have a girlfriend because he should be studying vocab words at all times. Buzzkill.

Merry Christmas~

My gift to you.

Girl Kpop Groups.

Oldie but goodie:

T-ara live. I like how unabashedly racist this is.

Sistar:

One more T-ara. Ugh, I hate them but they sure are good eye candy.

When Did This Happen??

Eventually, the day comes when you wake up, look in the mirror and realize in horror that there is a permanent line on your face. This happened to me a few weeks ago. I have 2.

I have smile lines. I am 26 and I am cracking like dry leather. I look at my old FB pictures to try to pinpoint when this started happening exactly. I still have no clue.

I shouldn't have ever smoked cigarettes. I should never have been such a happy person (whyyyy do we get punished for being smiley?). I should have sunscreened more.

My mom aged great, then again I have a much worse lifestyle than she ever did. I have seen my mother get drunk once, it was off a half of glasss of wine and she drank it only because we were in Paris. Other than that my mother has never drank a drop in my presence. Although, she did confess to me that when she was pregnant with me she got really, really drunk once after getting into a fight with my father. Thanks mom, you made me predisposed to love the taste of the sweet nectar.

You hear everyday that smoking and drinking ages you, but when you are young you feel immortal. It doesn't sink in. Until you see women older than you who don't drink as much and look 3 years younger.

Eff it, I am totally getting botox next year.

I think I am Going to book a Trip

So I am making a boatload of money the next 2 months. Methinks I deserve a trip. I am contemplating Spain, because its on the top of my list but I am also thinking Amsterdam because I've been in Korea for almost a year (the total opposite of Amsterdam) and I ain't getting any younger.

I am a Shell of a Person

Work is wearing me down these days. I ate 4 clementines for dinner because I was too exhausted to fry premade frozen dumplings.

Then, the peeling got tiresome.

:-T

Peter and I are not the Best Bushwick Couple

These people are:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/22/nyregion/22about.html

Correction on Wedding Hanboks

So Brian emailed me saying he agreed with my post on wedding hanboks and sent me a picture of a very beautiful hanbok with rainbow sleeves.

So I must clarify that I don't hate rainbow sleeves I only hate rented hanboks. I mean rented anything sucks right? Maybe not rented diamonds because diamonds are diamonds but everything else, bleck.

He sent me this gorgous hanbok.

I also LOVE these hanbok wedding photos in Paris that I came across.





I am totally making Peter wear a pink hanbok in public to take photos with me one day.

Good Excuse

Teacher, I have to leave early tomorrow.

Why?

My dad is winning the Best Actor in a Drama KBS award and I am going to accept it for him.

Fine, I suppose that is OK.

How to Insult a New Yorker

Teacher, is your coat from Urban Outfitters?*

Um, no Saks.

*To his defense, he thinks Nyers only shop at Urban Outfitters which is only partially false.

Sometime I get so over Korea

Then other times like tonight, after I have feasted on a bowl of mussels, 20 shrimps grilled on a bed of rock salt, and a perfectly grilled mackerel for 21 bucks, I EFFIN LOVE IT.

Are You There Santa? It's me, Lia

I've been really really good this year. And it sure is cold here in Seoul.

Bring me a Moncler Degas Jacket, thanks Santa

My Boss Is the Devil

I kid. I actually love my boss.

The problem is, she keeps asking me to stay in Korea longer. She tells me that there are no jobs in America. If I tell her I miss my friends, she says she can arrange a round trip ticket for me to go see my friends and come back.

This is after she already gave me 5 weeks off to go on my travels.

Ugh if only I could find a job in the states to offer me 5 weeks vacation and give me free plane tickets to see friends. I feel like an idiot for leaving this job. I love it. On the other hand, I do feel like I am delaying my future career whatever that may be. Also on the other, other hand I feel I may get dumped if I stay one month longer.

The free round trip ticket sureee is tempting though.

Next time, I am going to tell her I miss bagels and lox and see what kind of response she can come up with.

I Want This

Personal Library Kit, how cute for when you let your friends borrow books.

How to Teach Melting Pot to a non American

My 12 year olds vocab word was melting pot. This word is really weird to explain to someone living in a homogenous culture.

Me: So you know how America has lots of different people? Black, white asian? We all mix together to be one American culture. Like me for instance, even though I look Korean I have more in common with a white American than I do a Korean Korean right?

12 year old: confused look

Me: OK well have you ever eaten cheese fondue? You mix all different kinds of cheeses into a pot, you melt it? Pot, nembi you know? The cheese becomes one.

12 yr old: Chocolate fondue at Baskins Robbins!! (The korean BR here sells chocolate fondue pots)

Me: Yeah so like chocolate fondue, the people in America are all different kinds of chocolates and we melt to become one delicious superdip.

This actually worked, she got it.

Where do I find This?

I've been looking for the spiked hoodie in the 2ne1 video.

Pizza and OJ for Breakfast!

Feels like third grade again.

In third grade I ate pizza and tacos for breakfast because a) I was a chubby lil thang
b) I was an only child therefore I ate what I wanted

Kimchi and Purses do not Mix

I had kimchi in my bag (so korean, I know) and now the inside of my bag smells like garbage.

Why does our food all smell so bad and yet taste so good?

I met a Fellow (red) Joo

So my friend invited his older conversation exchange guy to drink with us a few nights ago.

We chat and we find out that we're both Joo's. Then we find out we're both red Joo's (the meaning of our chinese character is 'red' meaning we're from the same clan).

So we are distantly related. Joo is a very rare last name here (in 2000 we made up a 0.4% of the general population) and to meet a fellow red Joo, what are the chances?

Family Picture:

Then he says, "my head is too big, take another one". FYI Koreans are obsessed with having small heads or small faces. If someone tells you you have a small face, thats a big complement. I guess because genetically, a lot of Koreans do have big heads and sometimes we look like lollipop people.

UGhhhhhh

I have conversation exchange at 3. It is almost 2, and I am still in bed hungover. So regret signing up for this.

PS I didn't pick the 'wrap your body in warm clothes' guy.

Overprivileged Korean Kids

My student says to me. My parents are going to buy me an Aston Martin if I get into Yale.

If Zoolander made a Music Video

This is model/pop sensation Baptiste Giabiconi's AKA Karl Lagerfelds boytoy, music video.

What is he saying??? All I get is 'watch me take a bow.'

His faces are amazing.

Truly, you must watch.

The Walking Dead

Ok so I'm behind on pop culture and am finally caught up on The Walking Dead.

question: Why does the CDC have so much wine?

Everything else is so realistic, granted it's a zombie show, but the wine thing bothers me. Also, if I was that DR I would not share a drop with anyone. The world's about to end and you sharing your alcohol like that??**

**Update: Ohhh I get it, the building is going to blow up.

This makes it worth it

You can get a bottle of Goose here at a bar for $55. Amazing!!

I've seen pairs of men get a bottle of patron and do shot for shot until they're done. Hardcore.

Thanksgiving Dinner in Korea

It hit the spot but it wasn't the same. They gave one spoonful of stuffing and WTH is with the potato and carrot mix? Where are my green beans? Where is my corn?

Ugh, I went to an Austrian restaurant for this dinner. The austrian chef served red beet soup as an appetizer. Ugh, don't trust a European to do an American's job.

Persimmon

Is there anything better than a ripe, luscious persimmon?

The persimmons are so amazing here. I ate this one with a spoon, like pudding.

This is what a Deprivation of Real Cheese does to a Person

I was craving cheese that wasn't shredded or American so I went to the department store got a wheel and ate it to the face for my dinner.

It..was..amazing.

My Life is so 3 Stooges

So I am walking to my bed, I slipped on a bottle of lotion which caused my knee to twist in a very painful way which led to me fall on my bed while pouring coffee all over my new bed and sheets mid air and when i landed, my bed frame broke.

Not only is my life at times awkward, sometimes it is the scene out of the 3 Stooges.

Language Exchange

So I signed up for a language exchange website to learn Korean from a native. I might continue to do this in NYC when I get back.
It's a great website called www.conversationexchange.com.

OK one weird thing is I get this response from a man.

"it's so Freezing, today in the morning! 너무 추워서 얼어 죽겠어요 >,i hope you wrap your body with a lot of thick clothes!"

At first my initial reaction was to delete immediately because what a creepy thing to say. But then I thought about it and I guess his English just sucks, Koreans commonly say things to eachother like:
eat well or a lot
live healthily
study hard
dress warmly

So I am hoping "I hope you wrap your body with a lot of thick clothes" is his way of saying dress warmly?

I have the Slowest Internet Connection in All of Korea

Update on my new place:
1) I have the slowest internet connection for a country that is supposedly the 'most digital' in the world. I feel like it is 1998 and I am using a compaq presario, yes that slow.
2) I may or may not have bed bugs.

Seen and Heard

Scene: Ramen Drinking spot in Samsung

Characters; 2 grimey men, a younger woman and an older woman (wearing paisley print tights, brown snow boots, an ed hardy long sleeve tee and a leopard print jacket, so yeah hot hot mess)

I was peacefully eating my ramen noodles and beer after work when 2 men and 2 women walked in and sat right next to me. WASTED. They called the waiter over about 25 times in the 45 minutes I was there.

The most wasted woman there who I was 90% sure was a prostitute called over the waiter by calling out 'oppa'.

Oppa is what girls or women call an older boy or man. So I call my guy cousin Kory this, you can also call your BF or friend this (if they are older of course).

This woman who looked about 40 was calling the waiter 'oppa' when he looked younger than me, about young 20's.

I wanted to be gurll who you kidding, even with your plastic surgery you look at least 35. It was so embarassing. The woman was a joke.

It's so sexist of me but when an old man is drunk I think nothing of it, but when I see an older woman wasted I think less of her.
Having fun at an older age is one thing. It's not like I'll ever stop drinking but to act like an 18 year old girl at a frat party when you are 40 and at a restaurant is pathetic to say the least.

Well....maybe it wasn't the fact she was drunk, more so that clearly she was about to get paid to do a sex act after dinner.

Hometown on Fb

I want to change my hometown to Brooklyn, NY on Fb. I have an issue with this.

I hate hate hate when people put NY, NY as their hometown when they lived in the city for IDK 3 years?
If you grew up on LI/NJ for 18 years and lived in the city after graduating college, I'm sorry NY, NY is not your hometown.

I've lived in Manhattan for 6 years and Brooklyn for 2 and I still feel it's presumptuous to change my hometown to NY, NY.

After living in Seoul though and also being that my folks moved to Cali and I no longer have any ties to LI, I do feel like Brooklyn is my home. I also know that I will probably live in Brooklyn for the next, at least, 6 years.

Still, I can't bring myself to change my hometown because I hate on everyone who does. I suppose I just need to wait to change my current city.

NYTimes article on my Old Stomping Grounds

NYTimes writes about East 7th street. I so miss living there.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/05/realestate/05block.html?pagewanted=1&hpw

Even though yes, my apt was a shit hole and I once came back from a weekend on LI to find a decomposed mouse in the middle of my living room.

I suppose I would still take it to live on that street again.

Slut Gene

So Gawker did a post about this "slutty" gene or DRD4 gene.

http://gawker.com/5704020/do-you-have-the-slutty-gene?skyline=true&s=i

They blow it out of proportion because they say it's linked to uncommitted sex. It is actually 'the thrill seeker' gene and people with this gene love horror movies, like to gamble, and are politically liberal.

Is this really science? So I like horror movies and I am liberal so by default I am predisposed to be a slutty gambler? I am confused by this.

Wiki says it is linked to "schizophrenia, Parkinsons disease, bipolar disorder, addictive behaviors including sex addiction, and eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa and binge eating. It has also been linked with novelty seeking and political ideology."

I guess my liberal friends are kind of slutty :-P

Dan in Korea

I feel so empty this weekend because Dan isn't here.

Here is a visual ode to Dan's trip here.

Rented Paebaek Hanboks are so F In Ugly

So when I get married I def want to do the paebaek ceremony which is the traditional Korean ceremony.

This is suppose to happen at the groom's house because traditionally the bride would go live with the man's family after marriage.

Breakdown is you get some wooden ducks (bc ducks supposedly keep their mate for life, not sure if I buy that), someone throws dates (symbolizing girls) and chestnuts (symbolizing boys) and the bride and groom catch them to see how many kids they'll have, there is a piggyback ride involved at some point, and you wear the royal hanbok (traditional korean dress) during all these shenanigans.

I have an issue with the hanboks for paebaek.

I love regular hanboks. The colors are bright and glorious, the fabrics are so old school and the whole cut of the dress is so impractical in a good way. It is dressing up back to an old time.

Super modern colors:

A little more Traditional:

Paebaek hanboks on the other hand are HIDEOUS. They are hideous only because we are in America. You have to rent a royal hanbok for American weddings and they are tacky and cheap looking.

How do you go from the above to:

I get that the rainbow sleeve thing is traditionally the style for a wedding. But hello?! It clashes. Royalty wore hanboks in bright colors and commoners were allowed to wear this style on their wedding day.

I refuse to rent. I am so wearing a commoner hanbok when I get married. Screw tradition.

We lost to..

Qatar.

Ugh, I guess it's ok because we did't lose to Japan. That is all that matters.

Fifa World Cup

me: dude in an hr
theyre announcing who is hosting 2022 world cup
i hope its korea or us
Dan: we'll be fuckin 38 years old

I miss Whitney Houston

I have been listening to Whitney a lot these days. Did you know The Bodyguard soundtrack sold 44 million records? Insanity. Did you also know there are 2 Kenny G songs on that record? Extreme insanity.

Crack is so so whack because Whitney could have had a career like Madonna's. It would have been her singing at Barack Obama's inauguration instead of Aretha if she wasn't busy hitting the pipe.

Drugs are bad kiddies.

80's whitney:


90's whitney:


Aughts Whitney:

I hate when Guys are Prettier than Me

This Korean ladyboy won Miss International Queen.

Yay Korea?

Link Here

Ha someone said "i like how the first runner up is japanese. we have to compete for EVERYTHING."

So true.

What do I do for a Living?

So as my moving back to NY slowly approaches, I need to decide what kind of work I want to do when I get back.

I left NY because I was stuck at Ogilvy where I did email marketing and basically hated it. It just wasn't for me. I really admired people at my company who cold be intrinsically motivated by advertising (and free tickets to Jay-z concerts) and worked hard at it. I could not.

I just didn't see the point. I wasn't excited by it. It was a miserable existence for me. And it showed at my job. I didn't care, I didn't work at it. I didn't show up on time. I am not a lazy person by any means and my lack of effort depressed me. It wore me down to the point that I had to leave NY to figure it out.

I majored in marketing thinking my love for TV commercials would translate to working full time in advertising. Suplise!!! It didn't.

So now I am in this directionless rut where I am dumbfounded by what to do when I get back.

I love teaching but would never take it on full time in the states because you make no money. I like fashion but not to the extent of women in the business love fashion. Advertising is totally out for me. I thought maybe working on the client side would be better but I am weary of this also. I can't do anything with numbers because I am def more of a left brain person.

I am having an existential crisis where I often wonder maybe one doesn't have to love their job. It is a means to an end, a way to fund the real fun in one's life. I try to buy into this but I ultimately can't live this way. How depressing is it to think you have to show up and do something without any sort of passion for 40 hours out of the week?

Maybe I am idealistic in this way. Call me crazy but I think a real sense of happiness in life comes from doing something that you love. Obviously good relations with family and friends is 90% of one's happiness but work takes up 80% of one's actual time. You do the math.

Now, I'm not idealistic enough to think everyone has the opportunity to do what they love. Obviously some people need to work in less than ideal jobs to support themselves.

When I talk about this with my father I am touched by his response. Growing up, I assumed he wanted me to be a doctor, lawyer, or businesswoman being that he is, after all, Korean. I never discussed his expectations of me but since he always expected nothing less than A's in school, I always thought this assumption was reasonable.

I tell him I could just go back to NY and make 70K doing advertising but hate it or go into something totally new and into a field where I can potentially start off making $30K (which to be honest with you, I've never made as low as $30K even after graduating, I guess the one perk of going to business school).

He says to me, 'Lia you have to find something you like. Money isn't everything."

My father graduated with honors from Rutgers with a degree in chemical engineering and minimal knowledge of English. He started his own business because he realized a new career in chemical engineering wasn't enough to support his wife and child. His dream was to make it in an American workforce, with benefits, and he gave it up to be a small business owner. I know his story isn't unique amongst our immigrant parents but it's still worth noting. For them, they didn't have an option. They had to feed us.

I grew up thinking he dry cleaned people's clothing for 10 hours a day, 6 days a week, with no holidays so that he could send his only child to a big name school and brag about it to his friends. I would graduate and become CEO of idk Kraft or something. He is, after all, Korean.

As I get older, I realize it's more than that. In the end, my father wanted to give me the chance to spend my time doing something I enjoy. To not have his life. He didn't send me to a pretty pricey school so that I could graduate and be stuck in some job. I guess the greatest gift you can give your child is the option to choose. To choose what happiness is and to go after it.

I can do whatever I want to do. To do just anything and settle would be a bigger disappointment to my father than being unsuccessful. He came to the states for us to live the American Dream and live the American Dream I shall. No one said it would be easy.

Facebook isn't fun anymore

Facebook isn't fun because I've blocked about 70% of my 'friends' on my newsfeed.

I will block you for the following reasons:
-You kid is your profile picture. If you are holding your kid this is fine. If it is just your kid, whack.
-You status about what you are doing. No one cares what you are doing at the moment. Really. Get a twitter account if you do think they do.
-You link your twitter to your FB and proceed to twitter 5 times a day. Keep it to twitter.
-You talk about politics or religion in an annoying way. This goes for people on both ends of the political spectrum.
-You post pictures of your new shopping purchases (unless it's really cool or really fierce, then it's ok). Get a life.
-You post things about the weather. This is considered small talk. This isn't fun in real life let alone on FB.
-You shamelessly self promote everything you are doing in your professional life. No one cares.
-You refer to yourself third person. Unacceptable in person, on FB, on email, in letters. Don't do this.
-You post pictures of the everyday food you ate or made. This doesn't mean I dislike food pictures, I actually love food pictures. If you made duck confit, worth showing. If you made cupcakes, not worth showing. If you are at the hot new restaurant please do show. If you ate at a chinese buffet, again, no one cares. Anything with bacon is acceptable.

This has eliminated about 70% on my feed so now FB isn't fun anymore. Plus my good friends aren't as lame as to status all the time. So this leaves me with no one on my feed basically.

I need to ween myself off FB now that i've cut out perez. Let's see how this goes.

Koreans are the Irish of Asia

There is a man screaming outside my apartment, clearly wasted. This happens oh...every other night here. I wish this was NY and I could just scream out my window to shut the fuck up. But it's Korea and that would be disrespectful, blah blah blah blah.

칼국수

Knife Noodles. Handmade noodles, so good.

Peter is so 갱스타

The store was called "Gangster."

Seafood Pancake

This seafood pancake at Naejangsan park was the best I've ever had. Yes, that is an egg in the middle.

Fun Benches

Leeum Museum Spiders

I like the spiders outside Leeum. They are cool.

Spam mmmmm

If there was a list called "Shit Koreans like" spam would def be in the top 5. If you don't know why, it's a long story. Spam is a legit meat here and it's not because we still ghetto or anything.

I like how that gift box of spams in the picture above cost the equivalent of $40. These were packaged for special Korean thanksgiving gift sets. $40 worth of spam sounds like IDK....THE WORST GIFT EVER.

For that money they should really invest some prosciutto or something.

Thats some fancy Grape Soda

Passion 5 Bakery's take on grape soda. Grape sorbet and soda with grapes and grape syrup. It's pretty amazing.

Poop Cakes

I love the Poop Cakes at Insadong.

So ok these Poop cakes are a play on a common snack here called Boonguhbang (fish cakes). Fish cake is also a misnomer. It is a sweet pastry outside with sweet red bean on the inside shaped like a fish. The ones in Insadong are shaped like poop. Is it weird that I think this is cute?

I actually don't find Boonguhbang as much as I thought I would here which makes me sad. My roommate says that the current President has been cracking down on street vendors which sucks. I am not sure if this is true because I do see chestnuts, roasted corn, egg breads, and other goodies a lot. Just not the fish cakes :-(

Hello Kitty Cafe

This is Hello Kitty Cafe in Hongdae. It was cute as hell. You can also eat Hello Kitty's head made out of cake (see below).

Do you see me?

Seoul Tower lets you put up "Love Tiles". I am wondering how long they leave them up before they tear them down. I better be able to find mine when I go back!

Koreans really Like Cake...and So Do I

Koreans really like cake. This is a weird and random observation. You are thinking, 'well everyone likes cake.'

No, but Koreans really, really like cake. You see a disproportionate number of people carrying cakes on the street. Trust.

So the cake pictured above is a cake I ate but did not purchase. I was at a lounge in Itaewon and saw the table next to me leave a quarter of a chocolate cake. A perfectly, good, moist cake mind you.

I said to the waiter in my crappy Korean, "Um, excuse me, can I have that?" (I was drunk..I know) He was really nice about it and brought me new plates and silverware.

Then I ate the quarter cake to the face.

Deep Fried Tteokbokki

Tteokbokki is rice cakes in spicy sauce. In Bukchon there is a lady who makes a different kind.

She deep fries the rice cakes on a skewer and then brushes a ketchupy spicy sauce after the frying. They....are...amazing

Gwanghwamun

포장마차

Pojangmachas are food carts where you get twiggim (tempura), rice cakes in spicy sauce, hot dogs, blood sausages etc. They usually set up after the sun goes down to take advantage of the drunk people on the streets.

I always end up at one at the end of the night but then regret it bc 7 times out of 10 they're not good.

A good pojangmacha is amazing if you can find it. Go to the ones outside Yongsan Electronic station and there is one with a line down the block.

Ode to My Korean Boyfriend

My Korean BF is not coming in December.

Dearest Brian, I will miss:
-drinking soju outside Gangnam station exit #7 in front of Smoothie King
-going to Apgujeong, Cafe Mu in Itaewon, W Hotel bar in Walker Hill, and NB in Gangnam in ONE night
-ending the night with shooting games and giving away the one prize to the 7-11 guy
-ordering soondae at the pojangmacha and then getting really pissed bc it's gross
- endless jokes about our coworkers (you know gurl)
- ignoring white people that we blatantly work with when you see them at NB/the street/anywhere because you have uncanny 'block caucasian' vision
-$15 coffees
-people watching at coffeesmith
-being tour guides
-booby boobying
-Louis snaps

Love ya bitch.

Korea: Focused on Excellence

If you are a Korean who likes sports watch this. If you are a proud Korean watch this. If you are non-Korean, watch and recognize son!

If you just want to see where I been living, watch the first 2 minutes.



The short bit at 2:25 about Sohn Kee Chung who won the Gold in Berlin running for Japan (because Korea was under Japanese rule) was so bittersweet. Him running into the Seoul Olympic stadium in the 88 Olympics was soooo amazing. I cried.

"South Korea's success is due to its people, intensely focused and with an unrivaled work ethic and an unyielding dedication to perfection."

Yeah, if you think that quote is news, you've clearly never spoken to a Korean mom or dad.

Link to watch the other 4 parts on Youtube

Check One Goal Off the List

Here were my goals coming to Korea:

1. Learn Korean

2. Save Money

3. Ween myself off Perez Hilton

4. Learn How to Be Alone

I am proud to announce I successfully quit that Hilton bitch! I HATE him. I used to love him but the bigger he got the more it became blatantly obvious that he made fun of these people because he was in fact jealous of them and he actually wanted the fame. He gloats about celebrities when they are nice to him in person which defeats the purpose of his blog.

DListed's Michael on the other hand makes fun of these people because he is smart and funny. DListed also finds gems like this:
Open Post: Hosted by the Dance of the 7 Ecstasy tabs

Perez is neither funny nor very smart and is also the worst speller in the world.

When Perez made fun of Adam Sandler's ugly daughter on his blog (who is 2 years old mind you) that was the deal breaker for me. Especially when Perez was def the fat, Hispanic gay kid who prob ALWAYS got made fun of, he should have known better. So I have not checked Perez in 3 months and I will never check again.

1 and 2 I have not accomplished at all. 4 obviously I have some bc I stay in my apartment and blog all day.

My Blog Is really Ugly

Whenever I hear people are reading my blog I get happy and feel like my countless hours of being a nerd has been worth it.

But then I see blogs like Jess C's and I get depressed. So clean, so beautiful!

Ugh, why can't my blog look like this. Oh I know why, because Jess had to spend 15 minutes teaching me how to make my pictures bigger.

Jess' Blog here:
http://bitnubs.tumblr.com/page/1

The Yearning for Whiter Skin

An article in the Chosun Ilbo talks about how Koreans want whiter skin (stating the obvious).

Article Here

It says:
"White skin has always been a symbol of wealth and status and therefore a powerful standard for beauty."

I get that back in the day dark skin meant that you were a farm worker but in todays world dark skin means you could afford to go to Bora Bora for vacay no?

I am all for a porcelain complexion as much as the next guy but the girls here take it too far. They look sickly and its not hot.

12 Year Old on Lady Gaga

JY: I hate Lady Gaga.
Me Why? She's amazing.
JY: She dresses so ugly and weird.
Me: Fashion isn't about dressing pretty, it's about making a statement. You will understand when you are older.

I feel like I make a difference by teaching her stuff like this.. Grammar schammar.

Sometimes My Friends Are So Considerate

Dan brought me 2 Vita Cocos when he came to visit.

I have been craving Vita Cocos since I got here. There is nothing like having a soju hangover and nothing to cure it!

He is such a sweetheart sometimes and he knows it.

Really sad Santa Doesn't Exist

Because I really want one of these. Seoulites love nice cameras, it is almost like a fashion accessory here. It is very weird because they will wear a fake Louis and then have a 600 dollar camera around their neck. Prob should have saved up for the real Louis first.

A Christmas Carol

I am teaching "A Christmas Carol" at work. I always hated Dickens, "A Tale of Two Cities" was the bane of my existence at once point in my young life. He is the worst, why is it always required reading? There are so many other good writers!

Thankgiving

Being outside the States for Thanksgiving is the worst. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday by far.

When Halloween rolled around I barely missed it. I didn't even have a desire to go to a Halloween party in Seoul even though there were a ton. Partially because it is not as fun in Seoul and partially because I didn't want to walk home looking like an asshole in a Halloween costume late night when no one else is dressed up.

Thanksgiving though makes me heart pine for the states. I wouldn't even have a normal Thanksgiving even if I was in NY being that my folks live in Cali so I wouldn't even have been with them and the aunt that always cooks for my extended family is in Seoul right now. But I still wish I was still there being with loved ones.

Yesterday I had an extreme craving for the turkey and all the works and called 5 different restaurants in Itaewon to ensure I wouldn't miss Thanksgiving in its entirety. Mission accomplished, Sunday I will be eating a 3 course meal (which really isn't sufficient because real Thanksgiving is all day eating) with my old roomie Yona. I know I wont be satiated unless they serve me 15 sides which I already know they won't. So yeah poor man's Thanksgiving on Sunday for me.

The boyfriend says "well you know the food is only half of Thanksgiving right? It's about being with family and friends, so you still won't have a real Thanksgiving."

Um yeah, thanks for bringing it to my attention. Excuse me while I go cry in the bathroom.

How to Cope with Impending Death

Me: So are we going to die?
K: Yes, so let's drink.

Texas Bar

I live behind Texas Bar. I have to endure Maroon 5 songs blasting at night into my window. Ugh Maroon 5 is the worst!!

My Mom is Scaring Me

My mom calls me to urge me to come back to the States immediately. She offers to buy me a plane ticket. I already have one and simply can bump up the date. Also, I told her an American passport is a golden ticket out of here and if stuff really went down I could run to the embassy and be jetted out of here.

I assure her that this isn't a big deal and North Korea wouldn't be as dumb to attack Seoul because Seoul is South Korea's bloodline. She says they not dumb but they crazy! Mom speaks truth.

I wasn't really worried until I read the South Korean president's response and he seemed understandably kinda pissed. Is this situation going to escalate? Is Kim Jong Il going to nuke me?

What is even worse is that my paychecks paid in won is going to be even more useless because this situation will inevitable weaken our currency even more. Maybe I should just leave for NY tomorrow to go make some dollars.

My Dad is So Whitewashed

Dad: Did you hear the shots today?
Me: You do realize, I'm in Seoul right? Do you know how far Seoul is from Yeonpyeong?!

He really forgot many things about Korea. He is officially more whitewashed than I am.

North Korea is Starting Shit...Again

article here
North Korea just fired some artillery on a S. Korean island killing one soldier and injuring 15.

Usually when I hear of NK SK beef I think, oh here are Koreans being drama queens again. It always seems like they start something once a year for attention.

This time I am slightly worried being that this is happening right after NK already torpedoed one of our ships, a little too recent in the government's mind I feel.

Now I am getting text messages from friends reminding me where the embassy is and telling me to carry my pasport at all times. Times like this make me really happy that I am an American citizen. Not that Americans are immune from war (obviously we love to war out) but we prefer to fight on other people's turf.

I mean North Korea can't be so dumb as too attack Seoul right?! Because South Korea will, if I may put in historical terms, "fuck them up".

I feel like non Koreans have this perception that South Koreans would want to be one big happy family if North Korea wasn't under the rule of such a psychotic leader. Yes, I think South Koreans sympathize because North Koreans are our brethern and we are cut from the same cloth. But really, logistically it would be difficult to take on a country that is severly malnourished, under developed, and uneducated.

Not to say it can't happen. If Kim Jong Il's son was somehow benevolent and decided to un brainwash his people, maybe? I mean anyone who looks at Seoul now and thinks about how this city was in ruins 60 years ago will believe in the possibilty of anything. We went from 1.5-3 million (total) Koreans killed and a country in total ruins to becoming the world's 13th largest economy and the producer of everyone's LCD TVs. The North Koreans unfortunately have not been as lucky.


If you are interested in how North Koreans live, I highly recommend the documentary "A State of Mind" which follows the lives of North Korean girls preparing for the Mass Games. The Mass Games are sort of awesome and supremely creepy at the same time. That is a different post altogether.

The film is available on netflix instant watch. It really captures the extent of how brainwashed these people are and how dire their circumstances are without being preachy nor from the POV of South Koreans.

A family of 4 gets a ration of 2 chickens a month! I do realize there are people in this world that don't get to eat any chickens at all but to a foodie like me this is horrible. Especially when you see how South Koreans eat. I remember thinking North Koreans probably don't eat too much Samgyetang (stuffed whole cornish hen soup).

Besides the whole starvation, torture, work camps that exist there, the worst has got to be the brainwashing and the ignorance. There is a great a scene where the girl visits a NK mountain for the first time and thinks it's so beautiful (she may or may not have cried, I forget). Then the viewer sees this mountain, and yes the mountain is pretty but nothing mind boggling. She will never be told of Mount Everest, the Great Barrier reef, the ruins of Machu Picchu, the pyramids of Egypt, the Victoria falls. She will live and die and never know of the beauty outside her borders. The tragedy is overwhelming.

Anyways this post was way longer than I intended, I highly recommended.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0456012/

Ice Cream Truck>Vegetable Truck

Every morning at 11 AM, the onion man wakes me up. Yes, I wake up at 11 to noon every morning, I am a bum. That is a different post entirely.

In Korea, we do not have ice cream trucks, we have vegetable trucks. These trucks do not have merry songs like Mr Softee but instead have a looping recording of the seller screaming "Onions Onions Onions for 10,000 Won" on a loudspeaker. This onion guy has become my alarm clock.

In my old hood, the vegetable guy sold many different veggies and also I could rarely hear him since I lived on the 7th floor a little away from the street.

Do people actually hear the onion guy coming and then put on their shoes, run downstairs and flag him down? Koreans use as much onions and garlic in our cuisine as Italians but this onion guy needs to take a rest. I thought there was a reason why ice cream trucks worked, reason being that kids are the only sugar crazed beings to actually flag down a moving vehicle for a treat.

I suppose he does eliminate my need to set my alarm every day. Thanks onion guy?

Spanx

I just bought a pair of Spanx because I bought a dress 4 months ago that needs to be worn.

I love this dress. It is a sparkly gold number and I had plans on wearing it numerous times but my plans have been foiled by my gut. The day has come where I can't wear anything I want anymore. I knew this day would come eventually, but I thought maybe I would be 35...not 26.

This gut may be caused by the fact that I work until 9:30, get home, eat cup ramen and drink beer. I am basically a Korean Al Bundy.

Priss

So my 12 year old is really bad at flying airplanes. She vomits in the bathroom for the whole duration of a flight. This happens on every flight she goes on.

She says to me: "If I don't fly first or business class I die!"

She learns quickly

So one of the vocab words yesterday was macho. My 12 year old learns quickly.

"Macho means the way a man acts when he is very manly. When a guy sort of walks with his chest out and doesn't act girly at all. That is a macho man, can you use it in a sentence?"

"Jo Kwon is not macho at all."

Amazing.

Das Racist

I know Das Racist has been the buzz for a bit. Much media hype about "Combination Pizza Hut and Taco Bell" but I really like this song.

Hot Enigma Beat.

Child of The Funk

Erykah Badu shared with NYMag the songs that made her a child of the funk. Great artist, great taste.

Her captions are great too, on Chaka Khan:
"Oh Chaka Khan, she is our queen. Anyone who sings soul and funk goes through the school of Chaka Khan. She has so many gorgeous songs but ‘Sweet Thang’ is the one — she sung that song from the vagina, from the bottom of her stomach, you can hear it all in her throat, she felt it."

http://nymag.com/daily/entertainment/2010/11/erykah_badu_slideshow.html#photo=1x69226