Most Expensive Monday Morning Ever!

So today I went to Chuncheon to update my alien card. The immigration office had moved to a farther location, which cost me $20 in taxi rides to and from the bus terminal. The visa extension itseld was $30, then I stopped off at the doctor, another $40. Then E-mart, another $30. Throw in the bus fares for another $8. I'll round that up to $10. Let's see: I spent $140 before 11am!

Later in the day I surfed craig's list and then amused myself by toggeling between my newest photoshop creation, and the original photograph. I really crack myself up.

Well, at least I'm not alone.

518 million people are thinking the same thing. It would be an interesting anthropological study to see how many people use the internet as a tool for divination.

"Walked out this morning, don't believe what I saw...Hundred billion bottles washed up on the shore...A hundred billion castaways, looking for a home"

Reincarnated Steel

According to the New York Times, the American Navy have just completed a new 684ft assalt ship built with 7.5 tonnes of steel from the World Trade Center, which was destroyed 8 years ago in the infamous September 11th attacks. Rescue workers and families of those killed in the attack gathered on the waterfront today to watch the "USS New York" glide past the Statue of Liberty and down the Hudson River. The ship will be commissioned for duty on November 7. What does this mean? It seems like revenge: reincarnating the victim as a weapon of war. Coupled with the American flags and statue of liberty in the background, I can't help but feel that the American values of freedom are tied up too intricately with violence. The Peace Tower that is supposedly being built at ground 0, is barely above street level. What does this say about American values?

What should I do with my Jack O Lantern after Halloween?

MAKE A PIE!

Equipment:
* A big knife
* A large spoon
* A big pot
* A steamer basket
* A large microwaveable bowl
* 1 round cake pan (about 9” = 23cm across)
* A blender

Ingredients:

For the pie:
* 3 cups (700ml) of cooked, blended & sieved pumpkin
* 1 cup (250ml) of brown sugar
* 1.5 teaspoons (7.5ml) of ground cinnamon
* 1 teaspoon (5ml) of ground cloves
* 1 teaspoon (5ml) of ground allspice
* 1/2 teaspoon (2.5ml) of ground ginger
* 4 large eggs
* 1 tube (500ml) sweetened condensed milk

For the crust:
* 16 Diget cookies
* ½ a cup (100ml) of butter

Optional:
* Whipped Cream
* Vanilla Ice Cream

Instructions:

1) Slay your Jack O’ Lantern
(or, if you are using a whole pumpkin, cut it in half and scoop out all the flesh and seeds…You can keep the seeds to roast later!)

2) Place a steamer basket in a large pot and fill the pot with water until the water level is just below the steamer basket. Place half of the pumpkin face down and cook covered for 30 minutes.
3) You can also cook the other half of your pumpkin/Jack O Lantern in the microwave. Cut it up into quarters and put it face up in a microwavable bowl. Fill the bowl with a couple of inches of water, and microwave on high for 25 minutes.

4) ) While the pumpkin is cooking, crush 16 Diget cookies in a plastic bag. Put the cookie crumbs in the cake pan, and pour in ½ a cup (100ml) of melted butter. Mix, and put in the oven at 180*C for 8 minutes.

5) If the pumpkin is soft enough, you should be able to easily scrape out the flesh. Put it in the blender and blend until smooth.

6) Strain the pumpkin mush for a few minutes to get rid of the excess water.

7) You should have approximately 3 cups (700ml) of cooked pumpkin glop. Stir the pumpkin into all the other ingredients, then blend it.

8) Remove the pie crust from the oven. Don’t worry; it’s not fully cooked yet.

9) Pour the blended ingredients on top of the crust.

10)If you have extra pie mix, you can pour it into a smaller cake pan and make a second, crust-less pumpkin pie.

11) Bake at 210*C for the first 15 minutes, then turn the temperature down to 175*C and bake another 45 to 60 minutes, or until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean.

Wonder Woman Returns!

My bike was stolen soon after I got back from Europe, so I haven't been biking since August. I was recently practicing the phrase "Someone stole my bike" in Korean, and I guess I happened to say the right words at the right time...The Vice President of the Hwacheon goverment overheard me and said that he would buy me a new bike if I joined the Hwacheon bike club! Of course I said yes. So today I went biking with the club for the first time (the bike pictured is not my bike, just a loan for the day--I'll be getting a new bike next week). The provincial TV station MBC was there filming the opening of our new bike trail (part of which is a dock), so I'll be on TV this Tuesday, channel 11, at 5:30pm. I'm so lucky. I love my life. (PS, in case you're wondering why this post is called "Wonder Woman Returns", click here.)

PIFFran

I just got back from the 14th annual "Pusan International Fim Festival". I watched 9 Korean films in 3 days...I have starred (*) the best ones:

Friday:

"I Come With The Rain" (Josh Hartnett stars in an international psychological-thriller)
"Vegetarian" (about a schizophrenic/anorexic "vegetarian"...as if Vegetarians didn't have a bad enough reputation in Korea!)
"Maybe" (about a Korean-American adoptee who searches for her birth parents)
"Mother"* (beautiful film: half Forrest Gump type comedy and half murder mystery)

Saturday:

"Our Fantastic 21st Century" (depressing film about a Korean girl working at a supermarket)
"Tokyo Taxi"* (Japanese rockstar can't fly to Seoul, so he takes a cab from Tokyo)
"Moscow" (depressing artsy film about reunited best friends)
"Enlightenment Film"* (extremely goood film about 3 generations in a Korean family)

Sunday:
"The Fair Love" (girl in her 20s falls in love with her father's friend)

I also went to the press conference of "The Fair Love", which was dissapointing...It lasted 15 minutes and was filled with blood thirsty photographers who wanted nothing but a good celebrity shot. It was incredible how the photographers worked: They had their cameras hooked up to their laptops, took 10 pictures a second, chose the best one, photoshopped it and emailed it off to their editors in less than 5 minutes. Oh instantaneous technology. What is most incredible is the sound...You can barely hear the people talking over the sound of all the cameras.

Here are some pictures from Saturday, when I actually managed to escape the darkness of the theaters and head to the beach.

During my stroll, I saw Josh Hartnett & his Korean and Japanese co-stars Byung-hun Lee (이병헌) and Takuya Kimura talking to a bunch of screaming fans... This is where I got to flash my press pass and pass through the crowd...Into another crowd of photographers.

Thanks PIFF, it was fun. Looks for my film reviews in the November issue of 10!

Seoul Searching

This weekend I took my new roommates exploring in Seoul. We went to the foreigner area Itaewon (see picture below) where I devoured a veggie burger. We also went to Myeong-Dong so I could update my wardrobe at Forever 21, and we also swung by the artsy area known as Insadong.That night we went to Hong-Dae (clubbing area). On the way there I saw this sweatshirt. I swear I'm seeing "San Francisco" all over the place these days. It's one of the cities I'm considering a move to. Sue found this awesome Hooka bar...No cover charge and really reasonable drinks! We have yet to discover a name for this place...It's across from Club 500, which has started charging W15,000 just to get in!