"Aretha Coy"

Hmmm...I really hope my tea "Nin Jiom Pei Pa Koa" (from Hong Kong) doesn't have any hallucinogenics in it...I would have swore that while stirring my tea, the spoon was making a noise that sounded like someone whispering "Aretha Coy" over and over again. Maybe I'm just tired. Well, there's another character name for my fourthcoming novel.

The Puddle Less Traveled By

My view walking to school this morning. This is one of those puddles you could fall into...Into another world! I love the texture of the street in this shot, and the lonely peice of red garbage that sets the street aflame.

It also reminds me of an Anne of Green Gables quote:

"When I left Queen's my future seemed to stretch out before me like a straight road. I thought I could see along it for many a milestone. Now there is a bend in it. I don't know what lies around the bend, but I'm going to believe that the best does. It has a fascination of its own, that bend, Marilla. I wonder how the road beyond it goes--what there is of green glory and soft, checkered light and shadows--what new landscapes--what new beauties--what curves and hills and valleys further on."

Rinsing Cereal

Until recently, it was almost impossible to find a relatively healthy cereal in Gangwon-Do. Sugar coated frosted flakes masquerade as "Well Being" cereal...HA! The flakes are smothered in a shiny shell of high fructose corn syrup, making the cereal almost impallitable. In order to get my daily dose of cereal deliciousness, I have been forced to rinse and strain my cereal before adding milk. Luckily, E-Mart now stocks a good brand of flakes that are sugar free. I've also noticed that a non-sweetened yogurt is being advertised on TV. No wonder Koreans think North Americans are so unhealthy, our healthy alternatives are just arriving here.



One of the culprits: "Almond Flakes" (pronounce in Korean like "Al-mon-duh Pu-lake-suh") is the cereal that I had to wash before eating.

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!

Gyeongju

KOREAN CUISINE IN 10 PARTS:
Soybean-paste soup, fish, tempura mushrooms, potato pancakes with garlic stems, pickled garlic, pickled jalapeno peppers, weeds, little fishies, weeds, weeds.

And this is what rice looks like before it falls on your dinner plate:
In Gyeongju we stopped by a 600 (?) year old gingko tree. You write a wish on a peice of paper and tie it to the ropes surrounding the tree. The tree goddess hopefully makes it come true.

Only 77 work days left...

These are some of the cute Kindergarten girls who came into school wearing traditional Korean dress (Hanbok) today.This is why I'm never hungry at lunch time! People are always bringing in bread/dok/peanuts/song pyeon...Did you know that peanuts are wet when you break them open? Now I know why they're called "Dry roasted peanuts"... (EDIT: They were wet because they were boiled. Oops. Here I was thinking that peanuts were more like a bean or a fruit than a nut...)

This week the English teachers and I are going on a cultural Field trip, so tomorrow is our last day this week then we're going South to a historical city called Gyeongju for 2 days...Then it's the weekend and I'm hanging out with some friends from Hong Kong who are coming to Seoul for a mutual friend's wedding...

The first week in October I have Thursday, Friday and Monday off to celebrate "Chusok", which is like Korean Thanksgiving. The next weekend is the Pusan Film Festival, so that's going to be cool. I was going to ask to take part of my winter vacation off so I could spend more time at the film festival, but now I don't really feel like I can justify that since we're getting so much time off at the beginning of October. I guess I'll only be going there for the weekend (although the festival itself is 9 days long).

THEN...WAIT FOR IT...My Winter vacation is from December 20th until FEBRUARY 5th! Then my contract is UP on February 28th...And there's a holiday, and the last days are a weekend! Which means I'm only working 2 weeks in the new year before I move out of Korea! (That doesn't include school/district camps that I will be forced to work, but they don't count cause they're fun and not regular school...In total they'll take about 2 weeks).

So...Let me do some math now...Today is the 15th...
15 days left in September (of which I work 9)...
31 Days in October (work 19)...
30 days in November (work 21)...
31 days in December (work 14)...
30 days in January (work 0)
28 days in February (work 14)
-----------------------------------------------
= 164 Days (77 work days) till I leave Korea! AGH!

I didn't realize it was so soon...Gotta get cracking on my "what the hell do I do after I leave Korea?" plan.

researchlings

Here is some of the stuff I looked at today:
http://www.enchanteddoll.com/

Art Deco artist Erte: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ert%C3%A9

I'm also researching who I would want to interview at the Pusan International Film Festival, if given that opportunity...So far I'm thinking Danish film producer Marianne Slot, cinematographer Kim Hyung-koo, and French/Vietnamese director Trần Anh Hùng. Check out: www.piff.org

Art I made

Here is some of the most recent art I've been working on:

AFTER photoshop:

This is me attempting Art Nouveau/Aubrey Beardsley

TIME 2B CREATIVE.

I got a new watch. I saw the brand O.D.M. in the Hong Kong airport on the way back from Europe, but I ended up buying the Hong Kong brand in Korea. (I'm glad I waited, cause they didn't have this cool coy fish design at the airport).

When idle, the watch scrolls a message across the screen. When you want to see the time, all you have to do is move your wrist upwards: there is a motion sensor in the watch so the screen changes to show you the time and date. You can change the message whenever you want, as long as you go to a store that has the special machine. So far, my messages have been:

CREATE YOURSELF
A wise woman creates more opportunities than she finds
(which was way too long, cause the message took 3 minutes to scroll by)
and my new motto:

TIME 2B CREATIVE

I think I saw these watches in the Big Bang/2NE1 "Lollipop" ads? (For those of you that don't know, "Lollipop" is a phone name...There was also "ice cream" phones and "audrey hepburn" phones last year...Oh, and David Beckham "razor" phones...)

Europe Photos

Since I'm not on facebook anymore, I'm taking this opportunity to upload some of my favourite photos from Europe. I printed most of these out and they're hanging around my house. Maybe I'll put these in my photography portfolio. Note to self: why didn't I notice this "compose" option (as opposed to "Edit Html") earlier?!

In Helsinki, Finland

In the Hermitage, St.Petersburg, Russia

In Tallin, Estonia

In Tallin, Estonia

At Peterhoff, St.Petersburg, Russia

In Peterhoff, St.Petersburg, Russia

Ice Skating

On Saturday I went ice skating with my friend Carla and one of her teachers, Insuk. Nothing like pretending to be a professional figure skater to make you feel happy! (At least it made me feel happy! This is a throw back to a fantasy I had when I was 14 where I am an amazing figure skater and fall in love with another amazing figure skater...but then sadly he has a heart attack and I discover he has cancer...Have I always been so pessimistic about love?!)

Carla introduced me to "mini kiwis" that apparently grow in the Korean mountains. You pop the whole little thing in your mouth, peel and all, and they are "delicious"! (Koreans call everything "delicious"...They are always surprised when I explain, "actually, we don't use that word very often...Usually we just say 'Mmm, this is good'.") Edit: 14/09/09: Today my co-worker was describing these to me in Korean and she said they are말랑말랑 (malang malang) which means "squishy". I thought that was a really cute word so I'm going to try and remember it.
After figure skating, we went sightseeing around Chuncheon. It was great to be with someone who has a car. Chuncheon is so spread out, I haven't really seen much of it besides E-Mart (Korean IGA), Myeong-Dong (shopping area), and Kang De Hoo Moon (the university student hang out). We went to a golf course (which was cool, I've never been on a golf course before...) and then to a mountain, to see a waterfall. After that we went for Dak Gal Bi, a spicy chicken dish from which I ate the Gogoma (sweet potato) and cabbage.

Ok...Seriously! Goodbye Facebook.

It's amazing how much more productive I am without Facebook. I'm trying to remember what my life was like before the internet. I was a kid, so life was easier: I went to the library to research for my homework, and I used these things called "books" and there were "catalogues" full of index cards...When I went to my friend's house, my mom had to call their home numbers, because I didn't have a cell phone. Speaking of numbers, I actually remembered phone numbers before the advance of a cell phone address book. Speaking of address books, who uses those anymore? I wonder how the yellow pages is coping these days?

I remember my grade 5 teacher brought a Mac to school in 1995 and told us that we could view a "page" from NASA. I had no idea what we were really looking at. I didn't get my first email address (francesdarwin@usa.com) until I was in grade 7. I went to a "lap top school" in 1998...It was so "revolutionary", we all had the same IBM Thinkpad laptops and sent in our homework by email. The school had problems with us surfing the internet in class, so the only way they could control us was to ask us to unplug our ethernet cords. I wonder how they're coping now with wireless technology?

I didn't get facebook till 2005 or 6...It wasn't a big thing back then...I was like "meh", ok, if you insist (my friend was insisting). I can't believe it's that young and it's already a verb. "Sure, I'll facebook you!"

Some poetic happenings

"Sunflowers are full of stars."

"An eyelash in my rice."
"Rusted rope on the road by the river."