11 Down 9 to Go!

Open Class

2008-07-20T12:24:00.004+09:00

Oh the Open Class....I have so many mixed feelings about it but at the end of the day it was my last day and that's all that really matters. I think it's unrealistic what they are trying to do but whateves yo! So here is what they said:

America lesson was good but too much info in one class
I have good pronunciation (She speaks so well, she's so articulate--Thank you Chris Rock)
Co-Teaching is good
Mixed feelings about the fact that I never teach out of the book

I'm going to leave those at that....except the book thing. The English books here teach the kids how to answer specific questions with specific answers. Think computer programming. I am not a fan. They do not teach the students how to compose or conjugate. My teaching focus has always been on pronunciation and basic grammar. I was told that my lessons are too hard but I'm okay with that. The smart ones were challenged and the not so smart ones ate paper. Just like in life I have high standards in the classroom.

On a lighter note when Abbey showed up for the open class she and I were dressed just a like! It was so cute. We both had the ruffle shirt and black pencil skirts! Do I hear FB profile pic?

Ughhh look at my tan! My friends know I am not a fan of tanning and this just takes the cake. I know it comes from my mountain runs so if I have to sacrifice a tan for no gut I will take it. Side Note* I am a fan of all shades but on me it just looks awkward.

There were more pics taken and I am going to try to have my coteach email them to me so I can make an official FB album out of them.

So this is the agenda for the rest of the month:

Go to Daegu tomorrow (Monday) to give the voucher for my plane ticket and pick up some Aveda for my hair
Hit up Seoul to hang out with Ebony and the crew before she ships out and get some new pants and my AKA Jacket!
Teach teachers with Laura at the Institute

I'll keep you updated...

No More Teachers, No More Books...

2008-07-20T11:57:00.009+09:00

Well school is finally over and here is the rundown:

At Chin Pyeoung there was a special concert held by the third graders so I had only two classes. Daisy decided to take me to Outback and this was my first encounter with a car elevator.

The car drives on this disk on the ground then it turns the car so it is in proper position to enter the elevator. From there the driver leaves, the car is given a number then is lifted to it's own little cubby in the tower.

After the Outback, Eunice put in Finding Nemo for the kids and I said my goodbyes to my last class. They weren't too pressed. lol. I'm okay with that. But here are some pics of me in my office and of Daisy and I.

My outfit was cute yall. I was feeling that! Clearly I will be repeating it in Seoul this upcoming weekend.

I took a pic of my hair cause it was acting right.

Me and Daisy. I will miss her. She was def my bestie here and she stood at the bus stop with me for like 40 min talking and waiting on my bus. We avoided looking at each other so we wouldn't cry.

I sat and had a talk with the Principal to say thank you for welcoming me to your school. I was the first Native Speaker they have ever had and I hope that I left a good impression. I will be honest I wont miss it, teaching, students, bus rides - none of it. But I am glad that I did it. My fave student Lisa at that school bought me the most outrageously great gift, it's the Korean masks of the Mask Festival framed with a book in English explaining each mask and the meaning of the dances! I love it but now I gotta get it to the post office to ship it home. I gave her my email address so she can keep sending me her essays so we can continue to work on her English. The girl is smart and I want to encourage that.

Motivation

2008-07-13T14:10:00.002+09:00

It has been a long time since my last post and honestly it's just because I am so ready to get out of here! Coming up is the last week of school so I am done with the children for good but I still have to teach teachers twice more. Last week I went up to Seoul and hung out with Ebony who is getting ready to leave Korea herself. BTW right now as I type to you my great organization Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Incorporated is celebrating 100 years of Service to All Mankind and I am in Korea. Right.

Anywhoo this weekend was supposed to be about my updating my resume and cover letter and getting to sending. That is next on the agenda. I am trying to think of all the things that I still want to do before I leave Korea:

Go to Japan
Go to Everland
Get three more shoes specially made
Buy some cheap jeans that fit my new curves (I totally cant fit my old pants anymore)
Get a leather AKA Jacket made
Convince Frank to get those shirts made (calling you out hommie)

My camera decided that it wanted to act all crazy with the LCD screen but it still takes pics so I gotta go back to the 90's when you couldn't see the pics and take them off of good faith. What good is that? Still it works.

On July 18th I have an Open Class that I have mentioned before and well, if they keep making a big deal out of this I am going to scream!!!! The lesson is planned there is no turning back. Either way my ticket has been purchased. SPEAKING OF WHICH!!!!

Why did my coteahcer tell me that the MOE is going to dock me 6 days pay for leaving on the 22nd and not the 28th. I really want to leave so I am not contesting it. I still get my pension.

Either way I have been spending my days updating No Fear, Just DIVA, reaching out to the fashion world, working out and bonding with my future roommate Jessica.

Pray for me yall 5 more weeks to go.

Neglected...

2008-06-26T11:28:00.002+09:00

I really have to apologize for neglecting this blog. I started a new blog No Fear, Just DIVA to chart my journey towards a serious career in fashion and I have to admit that it has really taken off. But honestly not much has been happening. Finals are next week so I have been showing movies in class to give the students a break, I teach an English Camp on Tues and Thurs to 5 wonderful girls who are showing great improvement. I am really just sailing along until July 18th which is the day of the Open Class, and also the last day of school.

I have been running around my dong to keep fit and I love love love it! But I am really ready to go. The date has been set at August 22nd! I will be back in the States with my family and the food I love most.

I will be back next week with more details about what all has been going on and a possible pic of my EC girls. I also have some pics from my phone that I have been meaning to post so I will do it all during that time. Pray for me yall I'm busy!

Wax and Stitches

2008-06-19T22:26:00.002+09:00

This is a post without pictures. I am trying to catch up with all the happenings here so this post is actually really short.

Wax

Angelica and I had been searching all over the place for a salon or spa that waxes. We finally got the information we needed, not from a Korean but from an American teacher. She was a great help to us and found a place that does waxes, mani pedi, and tattoos.

In Waegwon across from Camp Carol Gate #4 the salon is called Magic Nail. We got legs, underarms, and a pedi for 55,000 Won each.

Legs are 20-25,000 won

Stitches

Okay this story is a bit sad and funny and irritating if you have to live it. My student Jasmine got me a pair of earrings for Teacher's Day and I bought a belt that just happened to go great with them. Well the belt fits my hips but not my waist soooo... I decided to poke a hole in it to make it fit better. In poking a hole in the belt I cut off the skin on the front of my right index finger and had to be taken to the hospital for stitches.

I am so glad that I have health insurance . The stitches plus the antibiotics costs 56,000 won in total. I went back for additional medicine an d that was 14,000 won. Then just last week on Friday the 13th I got my stitches taken out for a whopping 1,870 won! Can you believe it? ! I'm sad that I did that to my finger but I am so glad I have health insurance.

Earthquake and Fire Safety

2008-06-19T22:11:00.006+09:00

As many of you know there was an earthquake to hit China the week after we made it back. So I guess due to the magnitude of the earthquake and the number of people hurt all of Korea had a national Earthquake and Fire Safety Day. This day also canceled 5th and 6th period for me and I am okay with that.

As some of you know I have my own office at my second school, which is really the computer room. So I am chilling at the computer when I see this:

So after they leave I decide to look for myself and see what was worth sitting on the window sill for. This is what I found:

Fire Safety! They made a big deal out of the extinguisher but hey they make a big deal out of everything....

Thank You

2008-06-17T21:13:00.003+09:00

Have you ever seen Brown Sugar? There is this part where Sydney is talking to Kelby about having writers block and how she isn't sure if she is good enough to write her book. She asks him about her current article and he fibs and eventually confesses that he has not read any of her other articles besides the one she wrote on him.

Later in the movie when talking to Dre he quotes on of her previous articles and lets her know that he read it every week. That meant a lot to her....it meant a lot to me.

Jesus Take the Wheel

2008-06-17T18:40:00.006+09:00

Okay so Friday the 13th was last week so please tell me why all the crazy stuff decided to happen at 2:30am this morning?

So this is what happened......

I was sleep in my bed when I heard this "SKEEEERRRT" and then a boom. Then I heard the engine rev and then a boom again, with about three more crashes then a big shatter. I heard a scream and saw all the people in the other apt buildings looking out the window and then men running to the scene of the accident. It totally shook me up. All I kept thinking of is "They say the best time to get in an accident is when you're drunk, cause you have a better chance of survival"

But I still decided to check out the scene when I came home from school. They were cleaning it all up this morning, totally disregarding my need for sleep. Still these are the pictures that I took of all that I could see.

Then this morning while waiting on the science teacher to ride to my second school I saw one of my main school students get hit by a car while riding his bike to school! Can you believe it? I was jacked up all day. The kid was not killed and there was no blood but he was hurt and the guy that hit him put his bike in the back and put the kid in his car and drove off. What did I do? Had my phone out to take a pic of his plate JIC he drove off. But I was witness to the whole thing if the kid actually needs one.

I also used this as an excuse to teach music and show videos all day. Man what a day what a day.

Heyong Nam Day of Fun (May 2)

2008-06-02T10:08:00.018+09:00

So as I said before my main school took a trip to the amusement park right before our vacation in May. So I am now getting to it. For the full album click HERE.

Ask me the name of it and I would have to lie to you but it starts with a W and it's in Daegu. The second graders were gone for testing and so it was just 1st and 3rd, but that still took 12-20 charter buses and an hour to get there. We left at 8:30 and basically opened the park.

I was so tired when we got there but one thing Koreans know how to do is eat:

They packed this stuff up from home and brought it to the park. We were grubbing at 10 am and that is all we had to eat all day until we left. There was also alcohol and the male teachers were at another table getting toasted before noon. I guess to them the perfect chaperon is a drunk one. J/K (maybe...) Like I said I was tired so I went to sleep and it was morning so it was chilly and I laid on one of the flat tops, kinda like a raised sitting area with a small table atop it for eating. One of my teachers asked if I wanted to go home and I told her I was fine, I was having an allergy issue but her main concern was the fact that I was sitting in the sun.

Culture Fact: Koreans HATE the sun and do anything they can to avoid it. Umbrellas, visors, sweaters, hats. You name it they do it. The thought was that poor people have tan skin b/c they worked in the fields back in the day so dark is bad. They do everything but sun screen. Go figure.

Anywhoo, on this day the students did have to wear uniform and it's nice to see them in regular clothes so they don't look like mini clones but....

However this is really cute!There are some pretty okay rides there, unfortunatly the teachers are too afraid to ride them. We rode two rides both of which I thought were for children only. But for some reason this ride here made them scream like death was upon us all:

I couldnt even fake enthusiasm. If I was with a kid maybe but I was with 3 grown women thinking you have got to be kidding me.

I really do want to go back with my friends and actually do it right, it's only 30 min by train so maybe we will. And when we do one of the coolest things about that place is the Sky Tower.

This tower is 80 stories and at the top is a restaurant that rotates so you can see the city and I took a few pics of the view. The rotation is so subtle but annyoing when trying to find the bathroom an hour later.

I took loads of pics of my students especially my fave of faves Jasmine. Take a look

They look innocent but they make you wanna call Child Services on yourself!

All in all I had a good time at the park but I need to go with adults next time. Keep a lookout for Everland post in the next two weeks. Until then I leave you with this....

Catching Up

2008-06-02T08:37:00.002+09:00

I have good and well neglecting my poor blog and there is no real excuse besides being lazy. I have also slacked on my exercise game and I do believe that it has been 2 weeks. That is no longer okay. So this is what has been going on since the last time I wrote:

Earthquake and Fire Safety
"Summon Day"
Stitches
Waxes
Christmas in June

None well one of these actually has pictures so keep a look out for these posts but for now see this as the preview to the show. Speaking of which Sex and the City the movie hits Korea Friday.
Angelica and I have been pretty busy these past two weeks it's been all trains and taxis. And this coming weekend will be no different. On Friday we will be touring the DMZ, Saturday Everland, and Sunday who knows, home, hair? Sky's the limit. There will be pictures of that and I also need to upload the pictures of the amusement park too.

Last month my school went to an amusement park in Daegu and I dont think I wrote about it. I will double check. Also I have been thinking of starting a new blog about my experience moving from Ohio to California and going to FIDM. What do you think? What should it be called? I am open to all suggestions. Alright off to class now but keep your eyes peeled for more. Later!

Teacher's Day

2008-05-17T20:51:00.008+09:00

Thursday May 15, 2008 was not only my Dad and friend Phi-Phi's birthday but also Teacher's Day in South Korea. I did not have school and CGV movie theater had free movies all day for teachers. Laura, Kisha, Angelica, and I went to see the new Chronicles of Narnia movie and loved it! I am ready for the next three.

Outside of free movies there were also gifts! This is from my favorite favorite Jasmine that I have featured on my Spring Time post. I was chilling on my computer and my coteacher lets me know there was someone at the door for me and it was her. She waved me over and gave me the gift. I gave her a hug, which they are so not used to and put it in my bag to open later.

She got me earrings! She really pays attention because ever since I have been wearing my hair natural I have been wearing pretty big earrings. I will wear them on Friday when we have class together. I am really trying to find an outfit for it cause I got nothing right now, but nevertheless I am in Korea and matching is not required!

Yesterday when I went to school I found this on my desk:

This is chocolate from my student Kimberly that lived in the States for some years and I now meet with Friday after school for advanced teaching. I really want to thank those girls for thinking of me and getting me a gift for Teacher's Day. Now it's just a matter of how to repay them.....

Scatterbrained

2008-05-14T12:34:00.003+09:00

Okay so today I am so scatterbrained and I really need to put some of my thoughts in organized order and where is any better place to do them than my blog!!! So this is everything on my mind...

FIDM:

I need a job
I need to apply for alternative loans to cover the rest of the balance of tuition
I need to make a decision about housing, student or no

There is a group on Facebook for FIDM and there are many people looking for a roommate for the LA campus in the fall, the down fall? They are just graduating from high school. One year is a long time to live with others who are that much younger than me and still trying to figure life out. But if I do student housing there is a chance that they will pair me with someone similar, right out of high school. But the prices are out of the question to live alone. Either way girl need a job. (PS I am not looking for advice...I am venting)

Teaching:

English Camps
Open Class
Regular Lessons

Okay so my students know nothing. I think I have said that before but it's like really what have you been learning the past 6 years? So I have been on a grammar kick ever since I saw that they don't know basic sentence structure and they are all like don't the Korean teachers teach that? NO they teach ish cause those kids don't know it! So I started with the Alphabet and am working my way down. Well now I borrowed a lesson from Angelica on the pronunciation differences between P, B, V, and F. F and V sounds do not exist in the Korean language so that can be a bit difficult. Still they need to know the diff and pronounce it correctly. So for two weeks (since we have had incomplete weeks due to the vacation) I have been doing pronunciation. Next week we go back to grammar first we did Nouns then Pronouns now W5H (who, what, where, etc.) that will end in a game of Jeopardy where they have to answer the questions with those starting in the category.

But....I also have to do an English Camp which is after school starting in June for 5 weeks for third graders and I will invite 3 of my second graders to join. I really need to set up a lesson plan for that, it will be 2 days a week 2 hours a day for 5 weeks. Last year it was so unorganized and I was running around looking crazy wondering why the kids would not speak or participate so now I am thinking of what exactly to do. I want to touch on all parts of learning a new language: Writing, Speaking, Listening, Comprehension. I want to touch on American slang and some idioms of course, watch some shows and have them tell me what it was about. IDK I am all over the place with that.

Lastly there is this open class that I have to do with BFF (inside joke) and well....I just don't wanna. There will be other teachers from the city and officials coming to watch the class and BFF decided that she is going to teach the class and she wants me to run the computer. Defeating the purpose. She has come up with some lesson plan that she wants to put on the computer and have me put into ppt form. I told her let's see what she's got cause she kept talking to me in the middle of class. Like I didn't have three free periods today. But honestly I wouldn't want to talk to her then either, so I have to just listen to what she says. IDK how good or bad of a teacher she is but she must be alright since I have all my advanced classes with her. She usually just sits there quietly while I teach. So I guess now she wants to get her shine on. I just hope there are no hidden agendas in all this. Either way it's up to God to handle that. She and I have not had the best relationship since the Temple Stay, (check September posts).

So that's all that's on my mind. I have yet to put this in some order and do something about any of it. Not to mention these Gifted Essays that need to be graded. Luckily I get the next few days off. I am off until Tues next week so I can get some order poppin. Until then I will be listening to Cherish's new album The Truth on BET's Listen Up and reading articles from the SisterLicious group on Facebook iming Angelica. Keep a lookout for a post on the trip to the Amusement park in Daegu soon. I just have to actually edit the pics so I can tell you guys all about it. Later!

Ahhhh!

2008-05-12T13:21:00.013+09:00

Okay so while working on a PPT for my students I was looking up images for the word "Confused" and I got this link: Korean Emoticons

Unamused A

Unamused B

Confused

Embarrassed or Blushing (can also look like *^^* )

Happy
Crying

We get these all the time and they are in our phones and yet we did not know what they meant or what to do with them. There are many others and if I can find illustrations for them I will post them as I find them. Hope this helps someone cause it sure helped me!

I'm Famous

2008-05-10T19:05:00.006+09:00

So on May 1st Angelica and I decided to go to Daegu to buy shoes for China. It's a bigger city with more selections, and Crocs. Well it was really hot that day 31 degrees Celsiuses to be exact. We decided to get some ice cream and walk through downtown.

While we were there, there was some sort of rally going on with many Koreans sitting on the ground and listening to some man on the stage. So there were also a lot of photographers around and......

We Ended Up in the Paper!!!!

Beijing Huan Ying Ni

2008-05-08T17:03:00.017+09:00

Hey guys! I am back from an amazing 4 day vacation in Beijing China. You see we have this May break and we were trying to figure out what we were going to do for it and at dinner at Extra when Laura's family was here we were talking about how we wanted to go but it was a matter of when since we all had different vacations. We were planning on going to Jeju island this coming weekend but getting planes out were just not happening and so Angelica and I decided why not try China. So after some internet searching we came across a great deal by Kangsan Travel. 4 days 3 nights in a 4 star hotel, meals, travel, round trip airfare, and English speaking tour guide all included in a little over 700,000 won (around $700) plus the $130 for a Visa for American Citizens.

We called up Kisha asked her if she wanted to go and she was down. The money needed to be in by friday we found out about it on Monday we sent everything off on Wed. Pretty fast ride but totally worth it!
We took a train to Busan at 7:45 am on Friday to catch a plane at 11:00 am to China.

There was some bad weather and the flight was delayed 2 hours! We were fed which was nice, I thought they only feed you if the flight is over two hours but I guess not. It was only 1.5 hours from Busan to Beijing.

Upon arrival we were taken right to the Acrobatic show where I must admit I was totally amazed at the stunts. I bought the DVD of the performance so that I can watch it with everyone when I get back home. There were amazing costumes and stunts and there was a part when the fist act kinda messed up and everyone fell, but they got back up and did it again perfectly. Ask em what they did and all I could tell you is jumping on shoulders and flipping..lol.

We were told by Charlie, our tour guide, that we could take pictures but no flash, this was an untruth seeing as when we took pics the ushers were right there to tell us to put our cameras away. But we snuck some in so check them out and the videos I took are posted on my YouTube page, FirstThreeInc.

That night we ate Peking Duck. This duck is special because it is force fed to become fat and given a special bark so that it can have a smokey flavor. There is also a special thin bread they give you to wrap in up in with other sides and it was soooo good. It was defenitly the meal highlight of the trip. But honestly the food in China was amazing. Angelica kept saying that she picked the wrong country. And for those of you at home wondering, yes, the Chinese food in China is very similar to the Chinese food in the states. The names have been changed to protect the illiterate in Chinese, but other than that...

Our second day was jam packed. Since we were two hours late getting to Beijing we ended up going to:

The Jade Shop
The Great Wall of China
Lunch
The Summer Palace
The Pearl Shop
Dinner
Martial Arts Show (optional) - I didn't go

The highlight was the Great Wall. I mean as soon as we got a glimpse of it the whole group got excited. Now for those of you who do not know the Great Wall spans across several cities in China so no we did not walk the whole thing, that would take months and we only had a few hours. But we did walk up two posts, which took about an hour and a half to go up and come back down. There were so many people there and if I was not sweating bullets and on the brink of passing out from the heat and the stairs I would have taken pictures of these females who decided to climb the wall in heels and shoe boots, and the guys in dress shoes and suits. It was hilarious. I was wearing Croc flats. I can't get with the original Crocs, but they have these baby doll flats that I love love love!

The third and last day went like this:

Temple of Heaven
Forbidden City
Lunch
Tea Ceremony
Dinner

The fourth day we headed for the airport at 5:20 am for a flight out at 8:30 am, and this time it was not delayed.

So now that you have gotten the nitty grittty about my trip let me share with you the highlights.

5 things you should know about Jade

To determine if it is real hold it up to the light and if you see little clouds in the piece it's what they call the Flower and that means its real. If you see Air bubbles it's fake
Jade is cold to the touch. You can hold it in your hands for a long time and touch your face with it and it should still be cold, even out in the sun. Fake jade gets warm to the touch
A jade bracelet should go across three knuckles for a proper fit.
If you clink it with another piece of jade it makes a light clinking sound like thin glass. But if it is fake or a lower quality the clink is a lower pitch and kinda sounds like thin plastic hitting each other
Putting a plastic bag over your hand works really well when trying to put on a bracelet

Pearls: Telling the real from the fake

Real pearls come in certain colors: Freshwater- Pink, Lavender, White / Salt Water- White, Black, Amber (very rare)
Real pearls when rubbed together create a white powder and when scraped come off blemish free
Real pearls can stand to be in fire and high heat without being damaged
Real pearls vary in shape and the higher the quality the higher the shine

As I think of more things I will post them. Until then please enjoy my albums with my pictures from China. TTYS!!

Album  1
Album  2
Album  3
Album  4
Album  5

Album 6

Album 7 (coming soon) - I am stealing pics from others on the trip and putting together another album.

Ohhhhhhhh I almost forgot the highlight of my trip outside of tourism: MY STARBUCKS MUG!

For those of you who know me you know that I have a mug collection that I started in London where when I go to another country I got to the local Starbucks and purchase a mug from the City Series Collection. Well in Beijing there was a Starbucks next door to our hotel. So I didn't go to the martial arts show so I could hit up Starbucks early and purchase my mug. Well when I got there, there were none. I asked the girl behind the counter and she got another associate who spoke English. He said he was sorry but with the increase in tourism to the city they were all sold out in the city. He wasn't playing I went to two other stores in the city and they were out too. Well I told him how I have a collection and that I was leaving the day after tomorrow and that I was sad, but if they didnt have any mabye I would just by a T-shirt and call it a day/compromise. Well he said he would call his manager (who he called his "Master") and contact me. So I gave him my name and hotel.

Let me tell you I had pretty much chalked it up, but when we got home to the hotel there was a note under my door with "Message" across. The note read "Someone called for you your Starbucks mug is ready" Man I grabbed Angelica and ran over there. As soon as I walked in there was a different guy behind the counter but I said "Hi, I'm Mei-Li" and he said "Ahhh yes the cup!" and went to go get it. Let me tell you I bout cried! The mug is big and beautiful. I am going to make sure I contact Starbucks to sing their praises. I know what you are asking "did you get their names" I did not. But I do remember what date and time I was their on both days so I hope that is enough. If not hopefully the whole store will get recognized. That was really special to me. I have already packed the mug so there are no pictures, but trust me when I say it was more than worth it.

Fashion Books contd...

2008-04-24T15:49:00.003+09:00

More books on the wishlist. Why didnt I find this before my birthday...?

Learning Fashion Lingo

2008-04-21T21:11:00.007+09:00

Dang nabbit I have so much to learn if I want to be taken seriously in this business so I am brushing up on and learning new fashion lingo. I am really serious about my career in fashion and am doing all that I can to get my head and both feet in the door. So I have been all over the internet reading fashion blogs and news sites for more information on the inside track. So I have subscribed to this great great great fashion blog The Fashion Bomb

This blog is all about urban fashion and features a section called Breaking into Fashion which allows readers to email questions about breaking into the industry and every capacity from PR to Modeling they get real people in the business to give really great advice. It was reading this that I realized I am not up on the lingo and that must change now. Not only the lingo but some of the fashion history, back stories, and insiders one who is serious about their career must know. There is no entry on Brand Management or Product Line Development so I think I will just have to write in some time soon.

Anywhooooo I was wondering exactly where to put all this great information and ling that I learn and there is not better place than my own space! So here we go:

First from the Chicago Tribune:

Couture: Custom-made clothing originated in France (really really really expensive)
Diffusion Line: "collection of clothing that aims to offer a designer's aesthetic to the masses" (price is a bit lower)
Shift vs Sheath:"Both refer to uncomplicated-looking dresses that end somewhere around the knee. The difference is that a shift tends to be less fitted around the waist and hips. Its straight lines are sweet and waifish in a way that the sheath, with all of its body-clinging tenacity, never will be."
Trunk Show: when a designer comes to town to show and sale its latest designs to the locals

Next are terms that I read from The Fashion Bomb that I have to be honest I just dont know so I will be looking them up as I type: (compliments of Wikipedia)

Masthead: a list, usually found on the editorial page of a newspaper or other periodical, listing the publisher, editorial board, advertising rates, etc.
Well Story
Run of Show
Sittings Editor
Atelier: artists studio or work room

Okay so if it is left blank that means that I have not found the definition but I will some time very soon. Also I will be investing in fashion insider books the titles of which will have to come at a later date outside of:

I will have to check back for other books I would purchase to fill my head but for now this is a must. Like a new spring wardrobe, it's getting hot out people and you know what that means. I am upping my workout regiment adding Pilates and cardio together for the desired results.

Okay back on track. So the thing I know to be true about me is that when I am passionate about something or something is burning a hole in my brain I must entertain it to the fullest otherwise it will fall by the wayside and who knows when that passion will arise again. So now I am trying to feed as much of my fashion lingo/insider as I can. Now dont get me wrong Fashion is what I live breathe and eat and has been for a while, but when I am like this I know me and I need to immerse myself 110%.

Well I am about to head to bed but I want to leave you with this link: Who What Wear Daily

TTYS!

Spring Day Fun

2008-04-19T21:25:00.006+09:00

Today was so nice outside Angelica and I decided to just hang out. Here are the pics that she took of me since we had this 5 hour long ANTM conversation.

I have this labeled as "Random Rantings" but nothing to rant about just a random post. I am getting the hang of my hair and have more clothing options now that its warmer. Enjoy!

Speaking of Makeovers.....

2008-04-18T10:44:00.002+09:00

Okay so my blog needs a make over. I have been looking at different blogs that are also through Blogger and I have decided to swallow my pride and email these people to get some tips. Hopefully in the months to come I will have a new look that is a bit more me and really flyyyy! If you have any tips feel free. I think in my spare time, between teaching, finding scholarships, paying bills, and looking for the latest episode of ANTM I am going to try to Google HTML tips and downloadable layouts. Later!

My Soap Box

2008-04-18T10:11:00.009+09:00

Okay so my blog is turning more and more into my little soapbox rather than a place for me to just journal my Korean experiences. So this is the thing....there has been a lot going on in my world most of it circling my hair. I have stated over and over that I decided to go natural, a feat that many have tried and not succeeded at, or some say they could never do. Well I am not here to yae or nae anyone but I have been surrounding my self with information about natural hair and how to take care of it. Anyway I just recently sent some pics off to an exclusive group of friends who made some very positive comments and I really thank them for that. I am now releasing them to you.

Anyway I was on the Afrobella site and she left a link for a letter written to Oprah, buy the founders of NaturallyCurly.com. You see I guess on Oprah's show they gave women make-overs where they straightened a lot of the women's naturally curly hair. I have not seen it but I will check it out on Youtube and see what I can find. Anyway, to read the letter click here: HERE.

I am adding in India.Arie's Video in here cause I think it's inspirational. I still have my diva tendencies, still gotta be Mei, but being in a country were saying I am the minority is a true true true understatement I have been learning a different kind of self love.

Also as I got through different websites I always like to save the pictures for motivation. Even if the girls in the pictures dont have the same kind of hair as me if I see inspiration I keep it. Here are a few pictures that inspire me:

I have gotten these pictures off various blogs, articles, and Google searches under "afro" or "natural black hair" But the picture on the end I want to look just like her! I love her whole look. I have been buying big earrings ever since I saved this pic.

Okay so ends my soapbox. Once I get an idea of what really has been working for my hair and what products are making a difference I will get back to you.

Next video clip India.Arie I am not my hair

I AM SOOOOO ANGRY

2008-04-14T10:24:00.005+09:00

I am posting this while still steaming so if I read this later and regret what I wrote I will deal with it at this time but I am so ready to go home. My school is denying me 4 days in the States why? Because they are afraid that I wont come back and you know what as of right now THEY ARE RIGHT! But why would I not come back? I have to finish out the year, mind you two of the 4 days I am gone are the weekend which means that I only miss two days, I have never requested time off and have missed only one day of teaching in the whole time I have been here, except for when they ask me to teach somewhere else on a school day meaning I still am within my contract. I get 7 days of vacation and if I asked to go to China or Jeju Island it's okay but because it's the States I cant go.

I AM SOOOOOO ANGRY!

I want to cry scream something march into my principal's office and plead my case but I am not I am writing to you and exposing my feelings to the world. Man I cannot believe this. I AM SOOOO ANGRY I AM SOOOO ANGRY I AM SO ANGRY I AM SO ANGRY I AM SO ANGRY.

I am sitting here at my desk listening to iTunes tunning everyone out like I usually do anyway but I have a class coming up luckily they are an advanced level and I am going to give them worksheets so I don't have to talk to them. I just don't want to talk to anyone. I want to go home. Back to my apt or the States either works right now. But I am honestly thinking of going anyway and just coming back. Take two sick days. Hold on I gotta request some handouts from the printer guy. BRB......

Okay I am on the phone with my mom and now I can cry. But I also have to teach so that is what I am getting ready to do. Later

Spring Time is Here

2008-04-12T19:58:00.008+09:00

Spring is finally here and I got the pictures to prove it. There are Magnolia trees that line the back streets on my way home and I love the way they smell. Defenitly a wedding flower, when there is actually a wedding.

It's nice to be able to go outside without a heavy coat on, but it's still pretty windy on the mountain. I am able to cut off my heat but sometimes I still use my heating blanket. I did not bring any spring/summer clothes so I will have to retouch my wardrobe, after I get that tax money (if any). And this time my clothes will be American. Trying to fit into Korean pants is just not agreeing with my new found curves. Yep I got em!

The little girl in the photo is one of my first grade students Jasmine, she is sooo cute. She sits right in the front and has the cutest non matching outfits she does her work, reads in class, and sits with her hands folded on her desk. I want to put her in my pocket!

We took some photos together and she came back to my desk the next week asking for copies of the pictures. I quickly obliged. Sometimes after school I have her come to my desk and I give her candy.

"I Followed the Voice You Think You Gave to Me"

2008-04-12T19:21:00.008+09:00

Congratulate me, I have been accepted to FIDM! I am sooo excited about this. I have been accepted for the Merchandise Product Development program. For full information click the name but here is an excerpt from the site:

Students learn to compete successfully in trend analysis, strategic planning, line development, and preproduction planning.

A lot of people have been asking me what am I going to and what about my business degree? But I am getting this degree in fashion to supplement my degree. There are multiple occupations that one can have with these degrees to check them all click here. But what I would like to do is Product Line Development and Brand Management.

Product Developer/Brand Manager

Control an image. Be responsible for managing the development of all new styles within the total line for a specific brand within the context of the company’s financial plans and business strategy. Develop unique and creative ways to brand the company’s product.

In the long run I would like to do Brand Management with International Expansion. Here is a job description of a Senior Planner, (Note: This is just one description from one company and is not the end all be all of this postition and its potential responsibilities)

The Senior Merchandise Planner is responsible for managing a
part of the merchandise planning for Soma which may require
analyzing current business trend, market feedback, historical
data and recommending course corrections and improvements based
on these assessments. The Sr. Planner serves as the key
liaison with the Merchant of the businesses they support in the
development of the plans to achieve agreed upon financial
targets. The Sr. Planner reports to the Director of
Merchandise Planning and directs a Planners and Planning
Analysts.

So I hope that gives you some incite as to where I would like to take my career and two degrees. Now next on the agenda is Financial Aid and Housing I need a place to live and a way to pay for school. I have been working with my advisor to get this all situated before October so we shall see and I will keep you updated all the way....while listening to Beyonce's Listen which has been my motivation for a lot of this. "And now I gotta find my own...."

A Special Birthday Gift

2008-04-12T19:16:00.003+09:00

Babies Babies all around! There seemed to have been a lot going on around the time of my birthday including the birth of Ms Trinity Monet who was born to my good friend Tiffany on March 20, 2008. Congrats girl!

I like to call her my Twinity Trinity.

About my Birthday Finally!

2008-04-12T18:51:00.006+09:00

Okay soooo it has been almost a month and I am just now getting to my birthday story. See the thing is I didnt take any pictures with my camera and had to wait for others to post theirs. So here we go, for the photo album with the acceptable photos Click Here.

I say acceptable because there was some drinking and some dancing. I'm 25 I figured I would give it one last hurrah. My birthday was on Thursday that Saturday Kisha, Angelica, Abbey, and Laura and I went for dinner at Holy Grill in Daegu where the owner Aaron gave us free appetizers and a shot called NyQuill, yes it tasted just like it and man it was crazy!

On our way to the club we stopped by a bar called New York were they sang me a birthday song and the bartender did a dance and a flame spitting thing and I danced, apparently with no shoes...

Afterwards we went to Club Frog, same place we went for Halloween. There was dancing and picture taking and foolery. That's all I got not much huh? Sorry!

My Birthday Video

2008-03-20T23:42:00.003+09:00

Happy Birtday to Me!!!

2008-03-20T23:16:00.009+09:00

Hey everyone! I am trying to get this in before the clock strikes midnight and it is no longer my birthday! Check out the videos and pics of me and my big day. Enjoy and I will be back tomorrow on the 21st to give you all the gritty details of my birthday part one.

Pictures of:

Me and Angelica
Me getting a gift from Extra, more details later
Me
Me and Laura
Everyone at dinner
Me and my cake

Obama, "A More Perfect Union"

2008-03-20T23:05:00.003+09:00

"We the people, in order to form a more perfect union."

Two hundred and twenty one years ago, in a hall that still stands across the street, a group of men gathered and, with these simple words, launched America's improbable experiment in democracy. Farmers and scholars; statesmen and patriots who had traveled across an ocean to escape tyranny and persecution finally made real their declaration of independence at a Philadelphia convention that lasted through the spring of 1787.

The document they produced was eventually signed but ultimately unfinished. It was stained by this nation's original sin of slavery, a question that divided the colonies and brought the convention to a stalemate until the founders chose to allow the slave trade to continue for at least twenty more years, and to leave any final resolution to future generations.

Of course, the answer to the slavery question was already embedded within our Constitution – a Constitution that had at is very core the ideal of equal citizenship under the law; a Constitution that promised its people liberty, and justice, and a union that could be and should be perfected over time.

And yet words on a parchment would not be enough to deliver slaves from bondage, or provide men and women of every color and creed their full rights and obligations as citizens of the United States. What would be needed were Americans in successive generations who were willing to do their part – through protests and struggle, on the streets and in the courts, through a civil war and civil disobedience and always at great risk - to narrow that gap between the promise of our ideals and the reality of their time.

This was one of the tasks we set forth at the beginning of this campaign – to continue the long march of those who came before us, a march for a more just, more equal, more free, more caring and more prosperous America. I chose to run for the presidency at this moment in history because I believe deeply that we cannot solve the challenges of our time unless we solve them together – unless we perfect our union by understanding that we may have different stories, but we hold common hopes; that we may not look the same and we may not have come from the same place, but we all want to move in the same direction – towards a better future for of children and our grandchildren.

This belief comes from my unyielding faith in the decency and generosity of the American people. But it also comes from my own American story.

I am the son of a black man from Kenya and a white woman from Kansas. I was raised with the help of a white grandfather who survived a Depression to serve in Patton's Army during World War II and a white grandmother who worked on a bomber assembly line at Fort Leavenworth while he was overseas. I've gone to some of the best schools in America and lived in one of the world's poorest nations. I am married to a black American who carries within her the blood of slaves and slaveowners – an inheritance we pass on to our two precious daughters. I have brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews, uncles and cousins, of every race and every hue, scattered across three continents, and for as long as I live, I will never forget that in no other country on Earth is my story even possible.

It's a story that hasn't made me the most conventional candidate. But it is a story that has seared into my genetic makeup the idea that this nation is more than the sum of its parts – that out of many, we are truly one.

Throughout the first year of this campaign, against all predictions to the contrary, we saw how hungry the American people were for this message of unity. Despite the temptation to view my candidacy through a purely racial lens, we won commanding victories in states with some of the whitest populations in the country. In South Carolina, where the Confederate Flag still flies, we built a powerful coalition of African Americans and white Americans.

This is not to say that race has not been an issue in the campaign. At various stages in the campaign, some commentators have deemed me either "too black" or "not black enough." We saw racial tensions bubble to the surface during the week before the South Carolina primary. The press has scoured every exit poll for the latest evidence of racial polarization, not just in terms of white and black, but black and brown as well.

And yet, it has only been in the last couple of weeks that the discussion of race in this campaign has taken a particularly divisive turn.

On one end of the spectrum, we've heard the implication that my candidacy is somehow an exercise in affirmative action; that it's based solely on the desire of wide-eyed liberals to purchase racial reconciliation on the cheap. On the other end, we've heard my former pastor, Reverend Jeremiah Wright, use incendiary language to express views that have the potential not only to widen the racial divide, but views that denigrate both the greatness and the goodness of our nation; that rightly offend white and black alike.

I have already condemned, in unequivocal terms, the statements of Reverend Wright that have caused such controversy. For some, nagging questions remain. Did I know him to be an occasionally fierce critic of American domestic and foreign policy? Of course. Did I ever hear him make remarks that could be considered controversial while I sat in church? Yes. Did I strongly disagree with many of his political views? Absolutely – just as I'm sure many of you have heard remarks from your pastors, priests, or rabbis with which you strongly disagreed.

But the remarks that have caused this recent firestorm weren't simply controversial. They weren't simply a religious leader's effort to speak out against perceived injustice. Instead, they expressed a profoundly distorted view of this country – a view that sees white racism as endemic, and that elevates what is wrong with America above all that we know is right with America; a view that sees the conflicts in the Middle East as rooted primarily in the actions of stalwart allies like Israel, instead of emanating from the perverse and hateful ideologies of radical Islam.

As such, Reverend Wright's comments were not only wrong but divisive, divisive at a time when we need unity; racially charged at a time when we need to come together to solve a set of monumental problems – two wars, a terrorist threat, a falling economy, a chronic health care crisis and potentially devastating climate change; problems that are neither black or white or Latino or Asian, but rather problems that confront us all.

Given my background, my politics, and my professed values and ideals, there will no doubt be those for whom my statements of condemnation are not enough. Why associate myself with Reverend Wright in the first place, they may ask? Why not join another church? And I confess that if all that I knew of Reverend Wright were the snippets of those sermons that have run in an endless loop on the television and You Tube, or if Trinity United Church of Christ conformed to the caricatures being peddled by some commentators, there is no doubt that I would react in much the same way

But the truth is, that isn't all that I know of the man. The man I met more than twenty years ago is a man who helped introduce me to my Christian faith, a man who spoke to me about our obligations to love one another; to care for the sick and lift up the poor. He is a man who served his country as a U.S. Marine; who has studied and lectured at some of the finest universities and seminaries in the country, and who for over thirty years led a church that serves the community by doing God's work here on Earth – by housing the homeless, ministering to the needy, providing day care services and scholarships and prison ministries, and reaching out to those suffering from HIV/AIDS.

In my first book, Dreams From My Father, I described the experience of my first service at Trinity:

"People began to shout, to rise from their seats and clap and cry out, a forceful wind carrying the reverend's voice up into the rafters….And in that single note – hope! – I heard something else; at the foot of that cross, inside the thousands of churches across the city, I imagined the stories of ordinary black people merging with the stories of David and Goliath, Moses and Pharaoh, the Christians in the lion's den, Ezekiel's field of dry bones. Those stories – of survival, and freedom, and hope – became our story, my story; the blood that had spilled was our blood, the tears our tears; until this black church, on this bright day, seemed once more a vessel carrying the story of a people into future generations and into a larger world. Our trials and triumphs became at once unique and universal, black and more than black; in chronicling our journey, the stories and songs gave us a means to reclaim memories that we didn't need to feel shame about…memories that all people might study and cherish – and with which we could start to rebuild."

That has been my experience at Trinity. Like other predominantly black churches across the country, Trinity embodies the black community in its entirety – the doctor and the welfare mom, the model student and the former gang-banger. Like other black churches, Trinity's services are full of raucous laughter and sometimes bawdy humor. They are full of dancing, clapping, screaming and shouting that may seem jarring to the untrained ear. The church contains in full the kindness and cruelty, the fierce intelligence and the shocking ignorance, the struggles and successes, the love and yes, the bitterness and bias that make up the black experience in America.

And this helps explain, perhaps, my relationship with Reverend Wright. As imperfect as he may be, he has been like family to me. He strengthened my faith, officiated my wedding, and baptized my children. Not once in my conversations with him have I heard him talk about any ethnic group in derogatory terms, or treat whites with whom he interacted with anything but courtesy and respect. He contains within him the contradictions – the good and the bad – of the community that he has served diligently for so many years.

I can no more disown him than I can disown the black community. I can no more disown him than I can my white grandmother – a woman who helped raise me, a woman who sacrificed again and again for me, a woman who loves me as much as she loves anything in this world, but a woman who once confessed her fear of black men who passed by her on the street, and who on more than one occasion has uttered racial or ethnic stereotypes that made me cringe.

These people are a part of me. And they are a part of America, this country that I love.

Some will see this as an attempt to justify or excuse comments that are simply inexcusable. I can assure you it is not. I suppose the politically safe thing would be to move on from this episode and just hope that it fades into the woodwork. We can dismiss Reverend Wright as a crank or a demagogue, just as some have dismissed Geraldine Ferraro, in the aftermath of her recent statements, as harboring some deep-seated racial bias.

But race is an issue that I believe this nation cannot afford to ignore right now. We would be making the same mistake that Reverend Wright made in his offending sermons about America – to simplify and stereotype and amplify the negative to the point that it distorts reality.

The fact is that the comments that have been made and the issues that have surfaced over the last few weeks reflect the complexities of race in this country that we've never really worked through – a part of our union that we have yet to perfect. And if we walk away now, if we simply retreat into our respective corners, we will never be able to come together and solve challenges like health care, or education, or the need to find good jobs for every American.

Understanding this reality requires a reminder of how we arrived at this point. As William Faulkner once wrote, "The past isn't dead and buried. In fact, it isn't even past." We do not need to recite here the history of racial injustice in this country. But we do need to remind ourselves that so many of the disparities that exist in the African-American community today can be directly traced to inequalities passed on from an earlier generation that suffered under the brutal legacy of slavery and Jim Crow.

Segregated schools were, and are, inferior schools; we still haven't fixed them, fifty years after Brown v. Board of Education, and the inferior education they provided, then and now, helps explain the pervasive achievement gap between today's black and white students.

Legalized discrimination - where blacks were prevented, often through violence, from owning property, or loans were not granted to African-American business owners, or black homeowners could not access FHA mortgages, or blacks were excluded from unions, or the police force, or fire departments – meant that black families could not amass any meaningful wealth to bequeath to future generations. That history helps explain the wealth and income gap between black and white, and the concentrated pockets of poverty that persists in so many of today's urban and rural communities.

A lack of economic opportunity among black men, and the shame and frustration that came from not being able to provide for one's family, contributed to the erosion of black families – a problem that welfare policies for many years may have worsened. And the lack of basic services in so many urban black neighborhoods – parks for kids to play in, police walking the beat, regular garbage pick-up and building code enforcement – all helped create a cycle of violence, blight and neglect that continue to haunt us.

This is the reality in which Reverend Wright and other African-Americans of his generation grew up. They came of age in the late fifties and early sixties, a time when segregation was still the law of the land and opportunity was systematically constricted. What's remarkable is not how many failed in the face of discrimination, but rather how many men and women overcame the odds; how many were able to make a way out of no way for those like me who would come after them.

But for all those who scratched and clawed their way to get a piece of the American Dream, there were many who didn't make it – those who were ultimately defeated, in one way or another, by discrimination. That legacy of defeat was passed on to future generations – those young men and increasingly young women who we see standing on street corners or languishing in our prisons, without hope or prospects for the future. Even for those blacks who did make it, questions of race, and racism, continue to define their worldview in fundamental ways. For the men and women of Reverend Wright's generation, the memories of humiliation and doubt and fear have not gone away; nor has the anger and the bitterness of those years. That anger may not get expressed in public, in front of white co-workers or white friends. But it does find voice in the barbershop or around the kitchen table. At times, that anger is exploited by politicians, to gin up votes along racial lines, or to make up for a politician's own failings.

And occasionally it finds voice in the church on Sunday morning, in the pulpit and in the pews. The fact that so many people are surprised to hear that anger in some of Reverend Wright's sermons simply reminds us of the old truism that the most segregated hour in American life occurs on Sunday morning. That anger is not always productive; indeed, all too often it distracts attention from solving real problems; it keeps us from squarely facing our own complicity in our condition, and prevents the African-American community from forging the alliances it needs to bring about real change. But the anger is real; it is powerful; and to simply wish it away, to condemn it without understanding its roots, only serves to widen the chasm of misunderstanding that exists between the races.

In fact, a similar anger exists within segments of the white community. Most working- and middle-class white Americans don't feel that they have been particularly privileged by their race. Their experience is the immigrant experience – as far as they're concerned, no one's handed them anything, they've built it from scratch. They've worked hard all their lives, many times only to see their jobs shipped overseas or their pension dumped after a lifetime of labor. They are anxious about their futures, and feel their dreams slipping away; in an era of stagnant wages and global competition, opportunity comes to be seen as a zero sum game, in which your dreams come at my expense. So when they are told to bus their children to a school across town; when they hear that an African American is getting an advantage in landing a good job or a spot in a good college because of an injustice that they themselves never committed; when they're told that their fears about crime in urban neighborhoods are somehow prejudiced, resentment builds over time.

Like the anger within the black community, these resentments aren't always expressed in polite company. But they have helped shape the political landscape for at least a generation. Anger over welfare and affirmative action helped forge the Reagan Coalition. Politicians routinely exploited fears of crime for their own electoral ends. Talk show hosts and conservative commentators built entire careers unmasking bogus claims of racism while dismissing legitimate discussions of racial injustice and inequality as mere political correctness or reverse racism.

Just as black anger often proved counterproductive, so have these white resentments distracted attention from the real culprits of the middle class squeeze – a corporate culture rife with inside dealing, questionable accounting practices, and short-term greed; a Washington dominated by lobbyists and special interests; economic policies that favor the few over the many. And yet, to wish away the resentments of white Americans, to label them as misguided or even racist, without recognizing they are grounded in legitimate concerns – this too widens the racial divide, and blocks the path to understanding.

This is where we are right now. It's a racial stalemate we've been stuck in for years. Contrary to the claims of some of my critics, black and white, I have never been so naïve as to believe that we can get beyond our racial divisions in a single election cycle, or with a single candidacy – particularly a candidacy as imperfect as my own.

But I have asserted a firm conviction – a conviction rooted in my faith in God and my faith in the American people – that working together we can move beyond some of our old racial wounds, and that in fact we have no choice is we are to continue on the path of a more perfect union.

For the African-American community, that path means embracing the burdens of our past without becoming victims of our past. It means continuing to insist on a full measure of justice in every aspect of American life. But it also means binding our particular grievances – for better health care, and better schools, and better jobs - to the larger aspirations of all Americans -- the white woman struggling to break the glass ceiling, the white man whose been laid off, the immigrant trying to feed his family. And it means taking full responsibility for own lives – by demanding more from our fathers, and spending more time with our children, and reading to them, and teaching them that while they may face challenges and discrimination in their own lives, they must never succumb to despair or cynicism; they must always believe that they can write their own destiny.

Ironically, this quintessentially American – and yes, conservative – notion of self-help found frequent expression in Reverend Wright's sermons. But what my former pastor too often failed to understand is that embarking on a program of self-help also requires a belief that society can change.

The profound mistake of Reverend Wright's sermons is not that he spoke about racism in our society. It's that he spoke as if our society was static; as if no progress has been made; as if this country – a country that has made it possible for one of his own members to run for the highest office in the land and build a coalition of white and black; Latino and Asian, rich and poor, young and old -- is still irrevocably bound to a tragic past. But what we know -- what we have seen – is that America can change. That is true genius of this nation. What we have already achieved gives us hope – the audacity to hope – for what we can and must achieve tomorrow.

In the white community, the path to a more perfect union means acknowledging that what ails the African-American community does not just exist in the minds of black people; that the legacy of discrimination - and current incidents of discrimination, while less overt than in the past - are real and must be addressed. Not just with words, but with deeds – by investing in our schools and our communities; by enforcing our civil rights laws and ensuring fairness in our criminal justice system; by providing this generation with ladders of opportunity that were unavailable for previous generations. It requires all Americans to realize that your dreams do not have to come at the expense of my dreams; that investing in the health, welfare, and education of black and brown and white children will ultimately help all of America prosper.

In the end, then, what is called for is nothing more, and nothing less, than what all the world's great religions demand – that we do unto others as we would have them do unto us. Let us be our brother's keeper, Scripture tells us. Let us be our sister's keeper. Let us find that common stake we all have in one another, and let our politics reflect that spirit as well.

For we have a choice in this country. We can accept a politics that breeds division, and conflict, and cynicism. We can tackle race only as spectacle – as we did in the OJ trial – or in the wake of tragedy, as we did in the aftermath of Katrina - or as fodder for the nightly news. We can play Reverend Wright's sermons on every channel, every day and talk about them from now until the election, and make the only question in this campaign whether or not the American people think that I somehow believe or sympathize with his most offensive words. We can pounce on some gaffe by a Hillary supporter as evidence that she's playing the race card, or we can speculate on whether white men will all flock to John McCain in the general election regardless of his policies.

We can do that.

But if we do, I can tell you that in the next election, we'll be talking about some other distraction. And then another one. And then another one. And nothing will change.

That is one option. Or, at this moment, in this election, we can come together and say, "Not this time." This time we want to talk about the crumbling schools that are stealing the future of black children and white children and Asian children and Hispanic children and Native American children. This time we want to reject the cynicism that tells us that these kids can't learn; that those kids who don't look like us are somebody else's problem. The children of America are not those kids, they are our kids, and we will not let them fall behind in a 21st century economy. Not this time.

This time we want to talk about how the lines in the Emergency Room are filled with whites and blacks and Hispanics who do not have health care; who don't have the power on their own to overcome the special interests in Washington, but who can take them on if we do it together.

This time we want to talk about the shuttered mills that once provided a decent life for men and women of every race, and the homes for sale that once belonged to Americans from every religion, every region, every walk of life. This time we want to talk about the fact that the real problem is not that someone who doesn't look like you might take your job; it's that the corporation you work for will ship it overseas for nothing more than a profit.

This time we want to talk about the men and women of every color and creed who serve together, and fight together, and bleed together under the same proud flag. We want to talk about how to bring them home from a war that never should've been authorized and never should've been waged, and we want to talk about how we'll show our patriotism by caring for them, and their families, and giving them the benefits they have earned.

I would not be running for President if I didn't believe with all my heart that this is what the vast majority of Americans want for this country. This union may never be perfect, but generation after generation has shown that it can always be perfected. And today, whenever I find myself feeling doubtful or cynical about this possibility, what gives me the most hope is the next generation – the young people whose attitudes and beliefs and openness to change have already made history in this election.

There is one story in particularly that I'd like to leave you with today – a story I told when I had the great honor of speaking on Dr. King's birthday at his home church, Ebenezer Baptist, in Atlanta.

There is a young, twenty-three year old white woman named Ashley Baia who organized for our campaign in Florence, South Carolina. She had been working to organize a mostly African-American community since the beginning of this campaign, and one day she was at a roundtable discussion where everyone went around telling their story and why they were there.

And Ashley said that when she was nine years old, her mother got cancer. And because she had to miss days of work, she was let go and lost her health care. They had to file for bankruptcy, and that's when Ashley decided that she had to do something to help her mom.

She knew that food was one of their most expensive costs, and so Ashley convinced her mother that what she really liked and really wanted to eat more than anything else was mustard and relish sandwiches. Because that was the cheapest way to eat.

She did this for a year until her mom got better, and she told everyone at the roundtable that the reason she joined our campaign was so that she could help the millions of other children in the country who want and need to help their parents too.

Now Ashley might have made a different choice. Perhaps somebody told her along the way that the source of her mother's problems were blacks who were on welfare and too lazy to work, or Hispanics who were coming into the country illegally. But she didn't. She sought out allies in her fight against injustice.

Anyway, Ashley finishes her story and then goes around the room and asks everyone else why they're supporting the campaign. They all have different stories and reasons. Many bring up a specific issue. And finally they come to this elderly black man who's been sitting there quietly the entire time. And Ashley asks him why he's there. And he does not bring up a specific issue. He does not say health care or the economy. He does not say education or the war. He does not say that he was there because of Barack Obama. He simply says to everyone in the room, "I am here because of Ashley."

"I'm here because of Ashley." By itself, that single moment of recognition between that young white girl and that old black man is not enough. It is not enough to give health care to the sick, or jobs to the jobless, or education to our children.

But it is where we start. It is where our union grows stronger. And as so many generations have come to realize over the course of the two-hundred and twenty one years since a band of patriots signed that document in Philadelphia, that is where the perfection begins.

Happy White Day!

2008-03-15T15:22:00.003+09:00

2.14 - Valentines Day: Women give gifts to the men

3.14 - White Day: Men give gifts to the women

4.14 - Black Day: Day for Singles

Whatever marketing company came up with this was a genius!!!

Starbucks in Gumi!!!

2008-03-15T15:03:00.008+09:00

You read that right! Starbucks is now it Gumi! Laura sent me a text and I had to call her just to make sure this was not a false alarm. This was a total surprise. There has been a sign for weeks about Dunkin Donuts, but not about Starbucks! Here are some pictures of the inside:

Take it all OFF!

2008-03-12T11:05:00.004+09:00

Alright now I know that the title of this post has you going "What!?" but bear with me. I am not a journalist so I am pretty sure that there is someone out there who can make my following thoughts sound much more eloquent and smart, but this is what you get.

Mind you this has nothing to do with Korea directly but I have been journaling my personal experiences and growth and this has been a part of it. Being in Korea has helped me to realize me and well i have been doing so much "soul searching" and within the last two or three weeks I have come to some great revelations maybe, (not sure if that is the word I should use...but)

So recently I have shared with you that I have decided to go natural [ great article here] and ever since then I have been researching natural hair, hairstyles, hair care for natural hair, and let me just say I do not believe that a product can be for both chemically treated and natural hair they need totally different things, except moisture, they both need that. But one of the hardest things to find are pictures of natural hair styles that are not dreads, or Sisterlocks, and I totally don't want that. And whats so funny is that I have always been the friend that loved her chemical treatment and got mad at my mother when she suggested going natural, but the more I read I am pretty excited about it. Mind you i have never had to tackle my natural hair alone and I am pretty sure that learning Korean in 6 months would probably be a lot easier, but I feel like I owe it to my hair and in some ways my culture to try it out.

Recently there has been such a debate over natural black hair in the workplace and this article by Glamour magazine is very interesting and I am glad that I read it, I encourage you do to the same I have already sent it to a few of my friends to get their take on it. I have to admit I have been going back and forth about this issue of natural hair being unprofessional and our role models of natural are in positions where it really doesn't equate to the corporate world, ie Jill Scott, Oprah with the cornrows, I also have a friend who attended an HBCU and stated that when attending the Business school Afros and dreads were not allowed, so what are we telling each other as a culture?

This issue of natural hair sparks such a large variety of other topics. Like for instance, in my head anyway, does natural hair embody a certain culture, we usually associate certain looks and styles with certain behaviors and personality traits. I kept thinking about how changing my hair would change me or how i would be perceived as a person, as a black woman more specifically.

Oh! Another random from me...Quaterlife. As many of you know I will be 25 next week which means that I am officially going into the Quarterlife stage and with that comes a what? CRISIS! Which I am pretty sure i have been going through since I was 23, but either way I am addicted to the show now, yes it is a show, book, website, and forum. We are then new Tweens, between school and a career,getting married and having kids later than our parents and grandparents....Check it out!

New

2008-03-05T10:19:00.017+09:00

This is a new school year here in Korea and I must admit I am ready for some changes. I have seen friends come and go and congratulate those who have new additions to their families.

I have been MIA because I wanted to leave the Thailand posts up for a while so everyone who reads my blog was able to get through the multitude of photos. So now that there is a new year here is what has been going on in my world:

One step closer to getting into Fashion School
Hung out in Seoul with my Sorority sister to get out of my apt, and make my gas bill lower in the process
Attened the Kappa's Ladies in Red Semi-Formal (click to see photos)
Reevaluated relationships with everyone it seems
Gettting back in the teaching mode (as if I ever had one!)

So in my second school I requested to move up a grade with my students and they allowed me to. I have a new co-teacher there and she really encourages the students to speak in English and I am really excited about that. My desk was given away so they gave me a private office and I love it! The were worried I would get lonely but the truth of the matter is I prefer it rather than seeing everyone that doesn't talk to me.

At my first school I have already mentioned that my Main Co-Teacher Eun Young Kim has gone off to have a baby boy 3 days before my b-day (the date of my bestfriend Tanisha's B-day), and there was much question as to who would be my new coteacher if I would have one at all and now I found out I got Mrs. Kang who was in the pic with Eun Young in the School Fesitval Post. She is also the teacher that invited me to her wedding. She is back with a short and sassy haircut that I Love! Now that I have gone natural I am soo into short hairstyles, which is the exact opposite reason I went natural-it was to make my hair grow longer and healthier.

Speaking of which, mainly through the subconscious efforts of my Aunt Sandra, I have decided to make better choices about my health all around. She is such an inspiration when it comes to stuff like that. Physically active, natural eating habits and hair, and Spiritually centered. She is a great role model as to how one should want to live their lives and treat their bodies. And now that I am approaching 25 I am looking at, and being marketed towards, things/products/services that emphasize longevity mostly financially and physically-I am working on both. I have added jump roping to my Pilates routine for some cardio. I am starting to live on Fit and Savvy Sugar websites to get some good tidbits.

Okay that was my tangent on that, back to Korea. Yesterday (3-4-08) was Angelica's birthday and we had a nice get together for that and a group pic will be up later. She has three new coteachers and two of them are young and so much fun. And their English is great which helps. But one thing one said to us that made me think was that if we wanted to date a Korean man we would have to meet the men separately from each other because it would be hard for the men to penetrate our group, (pause), and well...this was the first time I experienced subtlety in Korea. What she was saying was that the other teachers found it hard to become and remain a part of our [accidental] inner circle. I think this may be for a couple of reasons:

We are so used to being the only ones, whether it is in school, or at a dinner with teachers that when we get together not only do we catch up but we also migrate to one another
We have been here in Gumi for 6 months now and friendships have grown and bonds formed so it is natural for friends to create a circle and especially so if they are normally the outsiders in their work environment.
Everyday at work we are reminded that we are DIFFERENT but with each other we are DIVERSE, Black, British, White, American; either way we are just us when we are together.

So far those have been my new year adventures. Stay tuned and I will keep you updated. LEAVE COMMENTS! I love getting them. Thanks for reading

American Girl in Thailand

2008-02-14T10:33:00.025+09:00

Most of you have gotten a preview of my Thailand photos from the emails I sent or having access to my Facebook page. I have posted my videos on YouTube under the channel FirstThreeInc and they are all titled Thailand Video (#) and the list titles below are also links to my photo albums, but not necessarily related to the corresponding title.

But this is the Official Post of my 16 day trip to Thailand.

Overview:

16 days

Enter Bangkok, Jan 23

Travel to Kanchanaburi Jan 25

Take a Sleeper Train to SuraThani to take a ferry to Kho Phangang Jan 27

Leave the island for (Kho Tao - Jackie) Chiang Mai

Take Sleeper train to Bangkok to airport to catch a flight to Chiang Mai Jan 31

Chiang Mai Feb 1-3
Take Sleeper Train back to Bangkok

Shopping and chilling in Bangkok Feb 4-8

Things I learned:

Pack light: Bring your old undies and things you are okay with throwing away. You can buy everything you need here (Bangkok) either at the markets or 7-11 so bring an empty bag and come on!

Exchange USD: To get the best deal exchange USD or Euros, not Korean Won

Bring Pepto Tablets: Cause you never know......

It's Okay to Rely on the Kindness of Strangers: It's a backpacker's country and many are return visitors so talk to them, make friends, and write down the advice

TAT is Easier: But make sure that it is a Thailand Authority of Tourism (or something like that) and not just TAT initials. Got a lot of things you want to do and see in Thailand? Got to the TAT and they will help you out from train to plane to accommodations, they have it all covered. But go there FIRST, it helps you better balance your budget.

Wear a Watch: Unless your cell phone works in this country, which mine does not, you will need one.

Bug Spray, Sunblock, Water: 3 essentials to get to through your hard times and backpacker days

Keep Your Camera Ready: You never know when there is a Water Buffalo outside your beach front bungalow

US Plugs Work: Check the voltage (220) but my camera charger works fine

Agree to Disagree: Make the trip your own and don't be afraid to travel alone; Cautious, but not afraid

Bring Trainers: Flip flops are only mountain climbing friendly to Thai people

Sleeper Train: If you are over 5'6" get the bottom bunk. They are a lot roomier and more cushion

iPods, Books, and Journals, a Good Idea: Trains are late, you arrive too early, entertainment is needed

Work in a European Country: They obviously get way better vacation and free health care

Bring a Sleeping Mask (and Earplugs): Sleeping next to the light on the train or keeping the light on so geicos don't crawl into bed with you, either way you may need one

I kept a journal while I was there and here are some exerpts from what I wrote throughout my trip:

1-26-08

-it was kind scary at times trying to make it up to the top over suspect bridges, moss covered rocks, and flowing streams. I was dripping sweat. Nothing sexy about that. And now we are getting ready to go to a cave. Yippee?

1-27-08

-Today I am on a bamboo raft and I totally have a life jacket on. The breeze is amazing, but I would rather be feeling this from a porch.

-"Mei-Li the Hero" that is what my group is calling me after the raft and elephant riding. I took a video of Jackie and I and it was horrible!! We were on the elephant and the ride was really bumpy....the poor elephant had to poop and well I guess it wasn't going as planned and he began flinging poo with his tail. Jackie and I were freaking out, but we made it out clean and alive.

2-3-08

-....the Sunday Walking Market (Chiang Mai) is HUGE! With a lot of great things to buy. Chiang Mai really is the place to shop. And I feel I bought some great things here. Plus my painting that i took pictures of. Actually I like that idea taking pictures of pictures of paintings I can't buy and blowing them up and framing them....I got some serious culture intake and I couldn't be happier.

Back to Work!

2008-02-10T19:37:00.000+09:00

I am back from vacation and the cold weather. Jackie and I spent 16 days in Thailand from north to south we had a great time and I took many many pics, about 880, but there is a limit to how many I can post so I will just post the highlights and figure out how to get the whole load out to you soon enough. I am getting ready for work now BOOOOO but then I get two weeks vacation Yay Korea. I will give the full update and videos then. So check back in the next week or so.

Before I Let You Go....

2008-01-20T19:53:00.000+09:00

Hello All!

As of Tuesday I will be FINALLY taking a vacation with my good friend Jackie and shall return the second week of February. Don't miss me too much! But while I am gone feel free to catch yourself up with past posts and check out some random pics I took around my city Gumi. Until next time!

Mei-Li

Gifted Students English Camp Jan 7-11, 2008

2008-01-13T12:10:00.000+09:00

The second week in January I taught at an English Camp at the Gyeongbuk Foreign Language High School. The students were middle school students who were very advanced in English. Most of these students have left a serious impression on Angelica and myself and there were even a little tears at the end of it all.

A good number of the students lived in English speaking countries such as the US or Canada. And you can pretty much tell which ones they were, not only from their accents, but also from the assertiveness and willingness to talk and answer questions in class. Their understanding of sarcasm was also great! Sarcasm does not exist here in Korea or in the culture so to have students respond and laugh at the little side comments Angelica and I made were a bit of a surprise. Usually our students don't understand and we can speak pretty freely but not here. And it was a great feeling.

complete album here

My students called me "Strict but Sincere" I didn't and still don't know exactly how to take that but it touched my heart when one of the students said to me on the last day that he felt more confident in speaking English after having me as a teacher. One of my biggest issues with my students, or Koreans in the classroom in general, is that they are so afraid of making a mistake they will not speak in class. They come to the camps or trainings to learn English but refuse to actually speak it which contradicts my role as a Conversational English Teacher. So I encouraged conversation and giving one's opinion and Angelica had the students Debate on select subjects.

The debates were actually the kids favorite part of the camp. Angelica explained to them what exactly it was and what it meant to be Pro or Con and the students debated on the three subjects of; Same Sex Marriage, School Uniforms (mandatory of all schools in Korea), and Capitol Punishment. I'm sorry I don't have a video of those cause they did their research, provided statistics, and gave full arguments all in English. We were very proud of them.

The girls in the photo above I call the Crying Gang, because at the end of the camp they cried to see us go. So did Angelica, but I did pretty well at holding back any visible tears. Starting from the left you have Anna, Jackie, Erica, Miss Sassy Pants, and Hair. For a full explanation of the students and their "names" please look at the full album in the link provided above. And once again thank you for sharing in this part of my life.

Video Gallery: The following videos are of my students presentations on either fashion, or select comedians. Most videos are only one minute long so take some time and look at my students hard work!

Hidden Video

2008-01-13T12:01:00.001+09:00

I have been cleaning out my SD card getting ready for my vacation and I found this video of a little girl my friends and I met on the train like our third day in Korea. We were coming back to the university from Seoul and this little girl was talking to us in English and she broke out her recorder and started to play for us. It was so cute. Enjoy....

2008

2008-01-03T23:11:00.000+09:00

Happy New Year everyone. I hope that 2008 is opening with great met expectations for many while it has already proven to be bittersweet for some. Still I have made some great discoveries with my friends finding new places to hang out in Gumi.

This place is a fun place to go because the seats are swings and rocking chairs. They serve coffee tea, smoothies, and cakes. Angelica and I tried our hand at the "cheesecake" once again. And it is not the same. The middle is fine, but the top and bottom are pretty much a dried white cake.

Random Discoveries

One random discovery Angelica and I had while walking downtown was this underwear in a box. For Koreans to be so conservative and shy on the surface it is amazing the subtleties such as this underwear and over the counter birth control pills that makes one wonder otherwise...

Another contradiction...Hard Core Ducky?

On New Years Day Angelica, Jay, and I went out to an early dinner and drinks at this place, (I once again got peppermint tea) but they served some great food and a good array of beverages and shakes. We ate good...
The inside of this place is amazing. You almost forget that you are in the middle of a small city in South Korea. When we got there they obviously thought we were just visiting and decided to play all the hip hop music they had in their CD cases. We had a great time.
I know there are new discoveries to come as I travel around Korea and my city so until next time.....

Climbing, Christmas, and Camp

2007-12-30T16:42:00.000+09:00

Happy Holidays everyone! It has been a very busy week for me I have climbed part of Gumo Mountain, had a Christmas celebration with friends, and an overnight English Camp for the Gumi Office of Education for three days and two nights. Click the names for a view of the full albums
Here is a synopsis of it all:

Mountain

Due to some unknown virus the computer that was given to me by the school shut down to the point it would not even reboot! This left me frustrated and powerless so I decided to take a walk because nothing productive was going to come of my day and there was nothing I could do about the lost information. I called one of my friends who flat out told me I probably lost all my information that was on the computer (which in the end I did) and he was not my favorite person after that conversation. So to let out some steam I decided to take a walk up the mountain.

This is a view of my neighborhood from midway up the mountain. I never did make it to the top but one day!

This a fountain at the waiting point. I didn't know that is also doubles as a drinking well. I didn't drink any of the water though. Gumi is known as the Turtle City hence the turtles at the top. Check out the full album for more pictures of the fountain and the mountain.

I made it up to the halfway point and took some pictures and decided to try the unpaved path, I found some graves, and a great view of my neighborhood that unfortunately cannot be seen through the branches in my picture, which makes very funny commentary. I am not a mountain or nature girl so after I made it to a certain point I was ready to turn around when a Korean man invited me to continue to walk with him. It was harmless but I declined when my limited Korean was enough for me to understand it was two more hours to get to the top of the mountain. I wasn't that frustrated LOL

Christmas

Koreans don't celebrate the holiday the way we do in the United States, I am not sure exactly how Christians celebrate but in the commercial sense its pretty low key so I had to work for the most part. But not on the actual day. On Monday I went to dinner at Waegook Cook with the girls and then on Christmas I hung out at Abbeys and also that morning the AKA coat I had made came by delivery! It was better than Santa Clause!

Me, Abbey, and Laura at WC for Christmas Dinner. Angelica was also there but she was not up for being in the picture so she took it for us. Dinner was soo good and check out the full album for a photo of dinner. It was so great having normal food. We actually had a 3 course meal with Pumpkin Soup, Ham and Turkey, and Cheesecake MMMMMMMM!
The staff at Waegook Cook dressed in Santa gear for the Christmas Dinner gathering.

English Camp

This was the highlight of my week. Lets see I climbed the mountain on Sunday, worked Monday, Christmas on Tuesday, then went to camp Wed-Friday, no break for me. But the camp was worth it.

The meeting prior to the camp proved it to be a bit unorganized but it was actually a lot of fun and I did the camp with Abbey and Angelica and I couldn't have chosen two better mates ^-^ in the words of Abbey. Also we each had at least two students from our regular schools present which was a pleasant surprise because the student from my second school was actually my favorite, (see Chin Pyeong School festival 12-20-07 post).

On Wednesday there was an Introduction and interview of the students to determine their level in English. For teaching we each had a different section to teach, Abbey: Songs (which I wanted), Angelica: Games, and Me....Culture and Advertisement, right to 7th and 8th graders.
So I created a power point presentation of the top four cultures that can be found in the US, White, Black, Hispanic/Latino, Asian. And for advertisements I brought old mags and let them pick an ad an use the questions in the book that was given.

We each were given a group of ten students and they would be our group for the whole camp. We had to create group names and do a presentation at the end of the night. My groups name was Freezing Cool, cause we are so Cool we are Frozen! The kids came up with that all by themselves. Check the video for the presentation. Choreography by me!

As I said before the camp was overnight so we stayed on site in a dorm like room with bunk beds and when we entered the room around 11am it was freezing and we were told that they would turn the heat on around 6pm. I don't know what it is about Koreans and heat but they just don't believe in it in the rooms or hot water. We let them know that that was unacceptable so they turned the heat on for us. This was not the only way we were accommodated; another thing Koreans don't believe in is a proper dessert after dinner and around 8pm we got some bread and was told that there will be milk delivered in 40 min, well we had a real sweets craving and since we were about 20min out of town we asked if we could be driven into town for cake and ice cream. They said no. But! They checked with the person delivering the milk and they had them bring it to us. (There are pictures of that in the album so check it out) Geniuses we are we didn't have anything to eat the cake and ice cream with and we pulled a MI and got into the kitchen and found some bowls, chopsticks and spoons and ran back up to our room unnoticed. It was so much fun. Once we were settled in we all sat around my laptop and watched Sex and the City 'til about 10pm.

Thursday was a full 12-13 hour day that had the three sections, quiz show and trivia games, as well as the mini Olympics. It was fun but man were we tired. There is a video of the Olympics at the bottom. That night we practiced for the play presentation that the kids would do for the last day of camp.

Me with my group Freezing Cool! I had such a great time with these kids!

When getting ready for the Mini Olympics at English Camp my student from my second school quickly ran to the front and began to lead them in exercises I am told is done for soccer. I was so proud of her she is so fearless!

The last day we had the play and it was all pretty uneventful. I think we were all a little sad when the kids just said "Bye Teacher" rather than ask for our email addresses or something. I mean they really weren't trying to keep in touch. But we took it like grown ups and are on to teach another day. I have one more EC to do before I teach teachers for two weeks then I get a real vacation! Until next time thanks for reading!

Chin Pyeong School Fesival 12-20-2007

2007-12-21T23:13:00.000+09:00

On the 20th my second school had its school festival and I have to admit I liked the first school's festival a lot better. This one had good ideas but poor execution. I spent most of the time indoors but for what I did make it to see here are some of the photos and videos of the performances.

Click here for the Complete Album

This is a stu dent from the Mime Dance and she was ashamed to show her face as are all Korean girls.

These are my favorite students at my second school I have them on Thursdays last class of the day and they are a joy to have but can't speak a lick of English.

Guitar performance that could use a lot more practice

Christmas presentation

I missed this presentation I was probably inside on the computer but it was great to take a picture of the students in their costumes. I would sit outside by the rear door of the gym and wait for the students to come out and ask if I could take their picture.
This was a fairy tale parody of Lil Red Riding Hood, Snow White, and a third I am not so sure of, but I didn't get it.

The teachers sang a song in English, and another in Korean. Two of my co teachers participated and the science teacher that rides me to school everyday.

A picture of the gym with a stage for the performances. At least this one was indoors.

Most of the Videos are short and are as follows:

Santa Clause is Coming to Town
Student Dance
Teachers Song
Christmas Presentation
Shortest Mime Dance Ever

Discovering New Things

2007-12-18T14:59:00.000+09:00

On Monday I had a meeting with Angelica and another teacher about an English Camp we will be doing for gifted middle school students. Well afterwards we decided to travel downtown to get some tennis shoes for her to work out in.

Side Note: Many of my friends and I have decided that we have not been making
the best physical choices and have had many wake up calls about our physical
condition and have taken to different methods to become and remain fit. For
example:

Joining a gym

Belly dancing

Pilates (me)

Well while shopping for her I also decided to pick up some shoes that are real tennis shoes and not the cutesy Payless versions I have already. And after our purchases we decided to walk around downtown and ran into two very cool places: Balena and a Cafe Spa Book place (whose name I don't think we know)

So this place Balena is a food place that is very interesting it mixes pasta dishes with waffle cones! I know right! But check the pictures it is actually very cool because we didn't think that it would work or taste right but some how it is the perfect blend of spicy, salty, sweet. We both got the chicken chili in a cone and bowl.

Balena also offers ice cream and coffee for the less adventurous, but I recommend taking a walk on the wild side and trying out the different concoctions.

The second place we went to was the Cafe Spa Book place. We were curious about the sign on the outside since it was advertised as being a spa so we decided to take a look. (Thank you Jackie for teaching us to lookup) Well this place serves tea, coffee products, and ice cream with books and magazines, all in Korean of course, that customers can sit and read. The "Spa" option was something they call "Dr Fish".

As you can see Dr Fish is a tank with little fish that eat the dead skin off of your feet and the more dead skin you have the more fish you have on you.

!!!!!!DISCLAIMER!!!!!

I am freaking out in these videos, there is even a little bit of Beyonce's Listen in there too, and yes it is bad, but hey you would be singing too if you were trying to keep your mind off of little fish bitting your feet and ankles! Enjoy :-)

Winding Down

2007-12-14T09:41:00.000+09:00

There is something about the holiday season that is a reflection period for many and although I have only been here for a couple of months and am a quarter into my stay in Korea I have started my reflection period and well....here goes:

Self Improvement: There are always things about ourselves on the surface that we want to change but very rarely we get to the point were we are so isolated with ourselves that the things below the surface start to show. These are the things I am reevaluating and learning to change
People Inventory: I think Madea put it perfectly when classifying people like parts on a tree: Leaves, Branches, and Roots. The older I get I am learning how to distinguish between a Branch and a Root and that it takes time for true "Roots" to develop. Not everyone is meant to be your best friend and when away some people really do show you who they really are and its best to let them do exactly what they are, "Leaves".
Cultural Sensitivity and Adaptation: Korea has already proven to be the Anti-America in my mind, but I also went through a serious reality check with myself as to what I am doing to make it work here. It's not like when I was a student in France and I spoke the language and was familiar with the culture; here in Korea I am totally out of my element. I am learning that my need for specifics keeps me from being able to just go with the flow and can come off a bit aggressive to Koreans. I am learning the things that I cannot change and how to deal with them more progressively. There are still some set backs but maybe that just means it's time to refocus my energy.

So those are my year end ramblings. I am not a fan of New Years Resolutions, but there are somethings I plan to do differently in 2008, some changes and a completion of inventory.

I really want to say thank you for everyone who has been reading my blog and keeping in contact with me, all the comments and emails that you send. It means a lot to me and I really appreciate them. I need them to stay sane LOL. I hope every one's holiday season is going well and as you go through your own set of reflections I pray it never takes the same level of cultural isolation as it did with me.

And in the words of Beyonce: WHAT UP JAY!!

Greek Step Show in Korea

2007-12-09T15:06:00.001+09:00

Okay so I know my posts are like one week later than the actual events but that is because I usually try not to over stimulate but I will do a lot better of keeping this blog updated so that everyone will have an accurate account of my time here in Korea. I hope that everyone is enjoying the blog so far and please feel free to leave a comment anytime.

Now: the step show weekend was the best weekend I have had yet in my stay here in Korea. I am so grateful to my Sorors and all their hospitality.

So the highlights of the weekend were this:

Getting my braids redone

This is the hair shop where 4 Korean women (certified by Dudley), did my braids and I am so going back!!!!

Hanging out with Black People

The AKA's hosted a great step show and here are pictures of the Poster, Crowd, and Alphas

Congrats goes out to the Zetas who took home Runner Up, Line Dancing at the After-Party, and Angelica and I looking cute!!

Getting PeptoBismal!!!!

There are no photos of this but man if you lived in Korea and ate the food here you would understand why it is a great event to have the Pink Stuff in your home.

For the full album here is the link

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=13684&l=75e31&id=638627848

Until then here are some other photos that are fun:

Me and Soror Ebony's Maltese Tyra, Ebony's living room, The Sphinx

The is video is of the army kids stepping and it is so cute, Unfortunately my videos of the AKAs and Alphas show are too big so I will have to figure out how to make that available to everyone. Just like the School festival videos there are still to come.....

Confessions

2007-12-04T09:52:00.001+09:00

I have been getting a lot of emails from friends and family that kinda sound like this:

"Wow Mei looks like you are having a great time out there.....Well talk to you later!"

And when I was having a great discussion with two of my friends out here during the Thanksgiving weekend we had a lot of the same feeling in common concerning our lives in Korea, our friends back home, and all that in between. So to all my friends and family back in the States that are reading this "These are my confessions"

I am NOT having a wonderful time. Here is an excerpt from an email I sent one of my friends:

One thing I will say about Korea is that it makes me see me you know? There
is no room for a comfort zone I am so out of my element and all the time I feel
like I am fighting. And I get lonely you know? I got friends but sometimes my
heart gets lonely. Sometimes I feel so fake when people say how proud they are
of me and how much fun it looks like I am having cause honestly I don't like it
here. It's not fun its hard work and a growth process. They say they are proud
when I feel like I am moving backwards and everyday I am trying to find a new
view. You know I am more afraid of what I am going home to than what I am
staying for. Somehow it's easier to fail or struggle somewhere that isn't home.
I am blessed and my bills are getting paid I have the opportunity to see more of
the world and at the same time I feel as if I am being left behind. I know we
cannot measure our success by that of others but by that of our own happiness,
either way I feel like I come up short sometimes. I had suppressed my emotions
so much when I first got here that when I went to the movies on the first sad
scene I cried like my mother died, the movie was in Korean so you can imagine
how confused the rest of the audience must have been
I was watching a special with Alicia Keys talking about her album and how she went to Egypt alone, how sometimes you need that time to yourself and I agree. But I wonder if the very things I was trying to leave behind I brought with me? The same people same insecurities same fears same bad habits.

We want to know what is going on in YOUR lives........

There seems to be this misconception that because we are overseas we don't care
about what is going on with all of you, or that we are too busy to sit down and
read long emails from all of you but we are not. The concept of isolation is the same as if we were in jail or in the service, we want a piece of home and you guys are it. We care about you and what happens to you. We all realize how much we miss in your lives like marriage, babies being born, and the small stuff like buying a cute dress or killer shoes on sale.
Please keep us updated because you are a part of our lives and we miss you. I think that since I go over seas often my friends are used to it and just look at it as nothing but for some others it is their first time abroad and they are having a hard time with the isolation. I got a Face book wall post from my Sands Monique and all it said was "I know you are away from your family so Happy Thanksgiving" and it meant the world to me. Just the acknowledgement that we are away and we do need that meant so much.

I hope this has opened some people eyes and you realize it doesnt have to be big things in your life, that the little things count too. And I am going to take my own advise and do more than just show you the events and picture happenings. I will stop making the assumption that no one is interested in reading my blog without pictures and actually make this a journaling experience. Besides it's fun and great therapy for me. So happy reading and please write back....

School Festival (11-16-2007)

2007-11-23T20:13:00.001+09:00

On Friday Nov. 16 my main school Hyeong Nam had a school festival. I have never experienced anything like it it is an allday party! There is a talent show, food, and a second hand market where all sorts of items have are sold by students who set up tables and pull you in every direction to get you to buy something.

I took at ton of pictures and videos, which will have their own blog post, so I have just featured a few here and I will once again provide a link to my facebook page so you can see the whole album. More like Albums I took over 100 pictures that are pretty detailed of the entire day. Just as a precaution I took my camera charger and ran back and forth charging and going.

So for the albums:

School Artwork showcase:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=12489&l=302a5&id=638627848

School Festival:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=12482&l=754ed&id=638627848

I had a really great time at the festival but it was so cold and it was all outside except for the one hour we had the "Fun Fun English Quiz Show". I so did not name that, but I was one of the hosts. But the thing that killed me is that none of the kids had on coats and they were FREEZING. In Korea they carry around these little fleece blankets for those of you who knew me in college, like my Power Puff Girls one. (Don't hate PPG's are hot and Buttercup is a Boss!) but that is all the students had to keep them warm and that's just for those who had them.

I was really surprised at the talent of some of the students and others I just didn't get, but you can check the videos and judge for yourself.

The school went all out from the stage to the artwork in the halls and even face painting it was so much fun! But I have said that like 4 times already. So let's look at some of my favorite photos:

Here is the stage set up outside on the "field".

Remember my student who did the ballet solo in the video of my last post? Well here is her friend and also one of my students who is doing a traditional Korean Ballet, she was so good, and yes there is a video.

Here are my students close up in costume. Ballet, Jump Rope, Korean Ballet

The art talent of these kids is amazing. And it should be since they draw all through class. The little paper on the bottom is for the students name and grade-class (ex 3-9)

Some of my students posing for a picture

Me right after getting my face painted. It looks like a nice side view when my head was bent in a very akward position. This photo was taken by the student who painted my face (I asked for a rose and this is what I got) This is Tanisha's favorite pic and all I see is Shirley Denise

There is nothing more traditional than this fan and I love it! Check out the whole wall of fans in the photo album posted above.

Click on this photo to enlarge it and check out the cool faces of the students and teachers. I am not in this I do believe that they did this in the beginning of the year. The Korean school year runs from March to December, unlike in the US (Sept. - Jun), so the artwork is a compilation of the whole year.

This is my Co Teacher Kim Eun-Young (l) and Mrs Kang a third grade English teacher whose wedding I recently attended, she is a very nice lady. And as far as my coteach she is the best! She called me her "best foreign friend" which is a real compliment. So what is a "coteacher"? She is in the room when I teach and is there to help the students understand. She is also my main CoTeacher which is why when reffering to her I always captialize the title. So what a "main Co Teacher" does is comparable to an Agent for a celebrity (please hold all sarcastic comments). She negotiates contract issues for me, gets me English Camps which are extra teaching sessions where I get paid an additional amount and negotiate the price. All contact goes through her and she works very hard, and she does it all for me, I really appreciate her. She will be leaving in Feb. which I am sad and excited about since she is going to have a baby! She is due March 17th, 3 days away from my b-day!

This is one of my favorite pieces, it is a T-shirt that says "Black...Silent Control" I don't think the kid who made this shirt knows the cultural statement that was just made but I offered to by the shirt and am just waiting to hear back.

This thing was like 6' 3" and very impressive. There is also a really large American cartoon character featured so check out the album.

How I'm Living Gumi Style

2007-11-18T16:12:00.000+09:00

Many people have asked about my city Gumi, my apartment, and my schools. Well I finally have some pictures for you to see. There are so many that have added a link from Facebook that will allow you to see the complete album with comments from me. There are too many photos and it takes way too long to add them all cause blogger makes me do it one by one.

I will start to feature some photos but for now please go to: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=11948&l=48159&id=638627848

My City: Gumi, Gyeoungbuk-do Province (Google: Yes Gumi for more information)

My Schools: Hyeong-Nam and Chin-Pyeoung Middle Schools (I teach 1st grade middle school, or 7th graders) There are no pictures of my students because I don't plan on taking a picture with all of them. Maybe one class or certain students later, but right now just a picture of the schools.

My Apartment: I live in a studio apartment that came furnished. All that you see was already there except for the sheets and pillows. I bought those.

It's Been a Long Time, I Shouldn't've Left You....

2007-11-09T10:29:00.000+09:00

Remember that song? Well it has been a while since the last post and I have a few things to catch everyone up on. So for the next few days there will be at least two more posts outside of this one.

I want to first thank everyone for checking out my blog and becoming a part of my experience here in Korea, it has been, and is still a crazy ride that I cannot wait to see what is still in store for me. Now, Let the updating begin....

House Visit

Angelica and I went to her co-teacher Nattie's home one Monday after an English Teacher's meeting and I have to admit I was blown away. Her apartment was big and beautiful. I took some pictures of some things that stood out to me.

Click on the clock for a larger view to see the face at the top. It is majorly cool. Very antique-like.

I am all about dining room furniture seeing as my place in Atlanta was lacking it, and this set was stunning, I couldn't get a clear shot of the table but it was amazing as well.

Although I would not place it in my home I really like this couch. Here is a closer look at the pattern and Nattie and I on the couch. I really think its quaint and elegant. She did a great job decorating her home

This is just a picture of me in the doorway in my new coat. I really like the wallpaper. It reminds me of a modern version of Nana's wallpaper in the kitchen.

Teacher's Meeting

Here in Gumi something they like to do for English teachers is have a "Teacher's Meeting" an informal gathering where English teachers Native and Non, can get together and talk about a chosen topic. Ours for that day was Globalization, and Idioms. We got together at a restaurant/buffet Tomato. I really had a great time. I don't like Korean food too much but this place had steak, chicken, and other recognizables. I killed that food! I had more meat than veggies, but still all worth it! However, I still find it mind boggling how the beer glasses were 5X's larger than the cups for water. What does that say about the culture?

The place itself was very interesting. Kinda Applebees Friday's like with the random things hanging in the entrance way, on the walls, and from the ceiling. Here are some funny pieces of "decor" I thought should be featured:

We have learned to excuse Koreans for their random English and this is a perfect example. I mean really......

This looks like a Family Crest of some sort but the caption says "Don't Forget Dexter's Mother's Bread" HUH?
I just thought this coaster was cool, but the picture didn't come out the way I wanted.

This is inside Tomato. You can see the buffet section, and on the left is where there is a live band starting at nine. (We were there long enough to see the live performance, trust me not worth it) But in the mean time they like to show videos of old American concerts and greatest hits. Feature Films:

Carlos Santana and Friends ( This is where I received the pleasant surprise of Lauryn Hill with Ce-Lo [video available here for old times sake] singing it up)

Michael Jackson's Greatest Hits/Videos ( It was good going down memory lane. Helped us remember why we let Michael get away with so much)

Christina Aguilara's Pieces of me tour ( I think that was the name of it, either way the girl can sang!)

Here is Abbey (UK-Manchester) and her Co-Teacher having a drink together. A lot of times Native speakers will hang out with their co teach, I have yet to experience that, but if there was anyone to hang with Ms. Ryoo is it.

Now the funniest part of the night was Angelica and I. On more than one occasion we have been mistaken for the same person and for us to wear the same type of shirt, well just call us Mary-Kate and Ashely! It was totally by accident, but the Koreans were so amazed. So you know we had to do the heart. We just had to.

Dance Recital

Just recently one of my students was a performer in a city dance recital. She is a 1st grade middle schooler so I didn't take it too seriously when she said she did ballet. Well I should have; this girl is hardcore. Here are some videos of the recital as well as her solo. Please watch at least her solo, she worked very hard and I am so proud of her. My students were so excited to see me and Abbey, (her student was in a performance too) but we were excited to see their talents.

Before the recital we ate at this place right across the street. Just a nice tidbit to know for those who have time before a performance at the Center. The food was just okay for me, but if you like Korean food they give you great portions

The guy who's face is on the logo, Nolboo, is said to be a man that long ago could never have enough of anything. He always wanted more even when it seemed he had everything. Good idea for a place to eat I think.

My student is no the far left. I was so proud of her and totally taken off guard with how good she is.

This is her solo WATCH THIS!!!!!!

This is a part of the group dance.

Few More Halloween Pics

2007-11-09T10:23:00.000+09:00

All Hallows Eve

2007-10-28T20:01:00.000+09:00

Oct 27 and 28 was a great weekend. I traveled to Daegu with some friends for a really great Halloween Weekend. Pictures are still being posted so I will have to do an update for them as they come.

In Korea they do not celebrate Halloween so it was interesting the costumes people came up with. Many ordered them from online while others went for what they knew and got creative. We got there midday on Saturday, Jackie Angelica and I, and once again it was an adventure to find our way. We got some pretty incorrect directions not only to the subway station but also to get downtown, so for those who are traveling to downtown Daegu: DAEGU STATION is closer to downtown and everything you need is right in that area. We ended up being on the wrong side of downtown and went to a police station to meet up with our friends and walked to a hotel that was not a love motel this time. However Jackie and I did share a room again. But this hotel was cheap and in the middle of everything. It was so much better this weekend.

I thought this fountain was interesting. The first is supposed to be Jackie drinking from the fountain, but I think that in our rush for a clear shot we had to sacrifice accuracy.

I have no idea what the pyramid really represents here, but we saw it when leaving the subway station and I thought I would take a picture.

After some good shopping and the location of a costume store to finish off our nightly apparel (or just to get me a costume in general) we went back to the hotel to get ready and for me to take a nap. The party started at nine at a place called Thunderbird Lounge (http://www.thunderbirdlounge.org/). Everyone was dressed pretty early so they went to dinner and a bar and Agelica and I met up with them later.

In this picture you have Girl (small angel), Art (superhero), Caitlin (school girl), Kali (Hermine from Harry Potter), Marni and Bren (Korean Couple), Jackie (Chung-Lee), and Jake (sumo)

Thunderbird is pretty small and there was no place to dance so we ended up going to a club called Frog that allows non-Koreans in for free and there were a lot of military people there, I had a really great time at this club. It was a hip hop club, and it was so funny to see everyone there with costumes on and the Koreans in regular dress confused about what's going on. I am pretty sure they had some idea, but the reactions and looks to certain costumes, like the guy in the bunny costume, or my Korean-American friends who had a bit more risque get ups which is totally against the native culture. Laughs and good time had by all.

Caitlin and Jackie being cute and sultry.

Okay, the focus of this picture in Marni and Bren. As you can see they are dressed just alike and happen to be making a heart with their arms. This is typical Korean Couple behavior and totally hilarious to all of us born in the West; however, many native Koreans just did not get the genius of this Halloween costume concept. Kudos to Marni and Bren!
Also in this picture is Dave Jones ( there are two Daves hence the last name), who is not in costume, and two random Korean chicks. Plus Cleopatra who's real name I don't know.

Jackie and I at Thunderbird

Bunny and Mime, I don't know these guys but these costumes in a Korean club was pretty hilarious. I'm surprised the bunny guy didn't pass out from the heat and all the people.

Angelica (angel) and I (everyone gave me a different costume name so we'll just say I was a Dark Cat Angel-atrix)

Sunday was pretty mild. We went to a burger place that serves a pretty mean chili cheese fry according to my friends, and the burgers are great as well. I had a cheese burger, cheese fries, and vanilla shake. I was never happier with the food in Korea than this time.

Since we were all pretty tired we all just parted ways pretty early and headed back to our respective cities. While trying to switch our tickets to an earlier time we saw Caitlin in line and hung out in the station for a little bit. Because I had been in heels all day and night my back was hurting and I bent down and an elderly Korean came past looking at me like I was nuts, but when we explained to her she started rubbing my back. It was nice but weird. At the end of it all we could do was laugh because by this time the whole station was looking at us. Oh well, Halloween is the time when the strange come out to play, or in my case, give back rubs.

Second Chances

2007-10-22T10:59:00.000+09:00

Sometimes the two months that I have been here feels like forever and I can't even think of the other 10 still yet to be spent. Part of me is ready to come home part of me is just ready for something else.

To pass the time I have started learning Korean, not much just important phrases that will get me through the day. Surprisingly I found it on Youtube! Everything is on that site. I am hoping that with more knowledge of the language my culture shock will not be as strong.

I spent the weekend at home contemplating what steps I want to take in my life after I leave here. It's funny how after graduation you thing you have it all figured out and then once you get out there you realize you know little to nothing. I am realizing now God is giving me a second chance. I remember a sermon Pastor Toni once gave comparing God to a Silversmith and how in the last stage of purification of "the silver" the heat is turned up to bring to the surface those impurities that were not visible to the naked eye or hidden by the more obvious.

When I was living in Atlanta I thought I knew what needed to change and in what direction I was or wasn't going . I thought I knew what needed adding or subtracting in my life/environment/heart/mindset/thoughts/prayers. But the truth is when you move to a whole nother country and those same issues follow, it's not them - it's you. It's me.

God is giving me a second chance to become the woman He created me to be. To let go of some things/people/thoughts/habits/false hopes/comfort zones and live the life He created me for and for me. And for that I am grateful. This is my 70 x 7 and I'm going to take it.

Mei-Li and Angelica's Big Adventure

2007-10-13T12:05:00.000+09:00

It is good to know that you are not alone and in this case it's good to know that I am not the only black person in Gumi. Just recently I was introduced to Angelica with whom I spent my Saturday.

In a place where everything is unfamiliar it is great to have someone who understands not only your culture but the sub-culture from whence you have come.

When I first came to Gumi I thought that I got a lot of attention but that is nothing compared to the attention Angelica received on Saturday. The following pictures with she and I were all requested by other people not by us. The would see us and ask if they could take a picture and we figured why not. The Korean woman in the picture with the balloons was a hair stylist and she took a strong curiosity in my hair, she even smelled it! It totally freaked me out.

We took it all in stride but if this is only part of what it's like to be a celebrity I will never joke about being one again!

Since we are both new to Gumi we decided to explore downtown. We found some very interesting shops and two stores in particular we plan to frequent. The first store is a handmade shoe store. Most of the shoes are very expensive so we won't be able to buy them as often as we like, but if there is a shoe that we like that is not in our size they will make it for us and send it within a week! Its so great. The shoes are so amazing! The price is less than Prada, more than Steve Madden, so you take a guess.

The second store is pictured here. The do amazing artwork on various items of clothing, bags, and shoes. If you enlarge the picture you may be able to see of the things on display. Fortunately for my bank account this store was closed. We will check back during the week but this is an amazing store. Sometimes getting lost has its benefits.

On the way back we found a group of traditional Korean dancers, like the ones at the Folk Village, and masked dancers performing in front of Gumi Station, the train station.

I am sure that this all told a story but since we don't speak the language we just enjoyed the dancing. Here are some pictures of the different masked persons. Below I have two videos: The group mask dance, A Baby dancing with the masked people. Both are 2 minutes long.

This was a peasant. The only reason why I say that is because of his dress and they fact that he had no shoes one. In many cultures those without shoes were considered poor. But hey I could be wrong.

The guy in the mask here is the same who took a picture with us at the top.

The Green Masked person was the jester of the group. It would go around scaring people and messing with the other masked persons. It was pretty funny.

After the excitement of downtown we walked back to Angelica's place and indulged ourselves in a little American culture with Domino's and movies from home. All in all it was a great Saturday.

Pictures as Promised

2007-10-10T12:05:00.000+09:00

I promised more pictures from the Seoul Seoul Def trip and here they are! Please note that these pictures are in no sequential order.
If you would like to see the image larger just click on it.

This is the group (John, Ashley, Jackie, Me, and Art) in front of the palace.

Jackie, Ashley, and myself in front of the guards at the palace

The palace had very small doorways and Art, Ashley, and Jackie were giving an example of just how short.

This is the group in front of the palace entryway

I forget what this pot was used for but I know they burned things in it. This is us acting like we are smelling the scents of the pot.

This is outside the Palace. Me, Ashley, and Jackie

This is the group in front of the pavilion

This is me and a tree trying to be cute.

Jackie and her brilliant photography caught me while I was thinking and as soon as I looked up I asked "People actually lived here?" Classic!

This is me with my Chinese Zodiac sign The Boar

This is a large picture of my face with a beautiful island pavilion in the background. It is said many couples get their wedding photos here in this part of the palace courtyard.

The malls are different than the malls in the US in the sense that they do not have actual stores that you walk into but rather is all open displays with a register. It reminds me of an indoor market and this way they can fit more stores in one place. Although the malls tend to be 5 plus floors. But because of this there are no dressing rooms so this beautiful flower skirt is how customers try on pants, all under the skirt.

That night as I mentioned previously we hung out at the Ho Bar. (Me, Ben, and Ashley in the picture) The thing that Ashley is doing with her fingers and face is a common Korean cute picture pose. They love the peace sign and hearts.

It's a small world after all (PIFF)

2007-10-10T08:48:00.000+09:00

Last weekend I attended the Pusan International Film Festival (http://www.piff.org/) with several of my friends and I must admit it was a very interesting experience. One regret is that I was not able to stay longer so that I could view more films.

Our day started early on Saturday eating breakfast (American Style) in a hotel near the PIFF Pavilion, and then on to shopping. A fun place to go in Busan is Special Fun Zone or SfunZ (pronounced spongy) it is a place of great shops and a shoe store that has all shoes for $40. There is a large Skin Food which is my favorite skin care store in South Korea. This is also where some of the movies are played and tickets are sold.

We then traveled to the University district where there is a lot of great shopping and even this fun store called Princess Land that has the best hand made shoes ever; worth going to once a month if your budget allows.

One of the great things about Korean shopping is the art of negotiation. Since there are no taxes here no price is final! I bought the cutest dress that I had my friend Jackie negotiate down from 48 thousand won to 40 thousand won. It was the best!

But we were there to see films so due to time and space we were only able to view two films, one a day: Closed Note and Paradise Murdered. I later found that there is a movie titled Mei playing at the Festival.

Paradise Murdered
Korea 2007 112min 35mm COLOR

A murder is committed in a small island of 17 residents. Duk-su who was with the victims playing card games becomes a suspect but cannot be found. While the manager of the health center and a female teacher investigate the case, island residents turn up dead one by one. The school security Chun-bae finds a memo, an important lead, and the village falls apart in dispute. The progress of their death is at the same time, a process of conflict and misunderstanding among villagers surface. They suspect a ghost of old legend or fight over money. Paradise murdered explains through its epic of death that all the villages are victims and offenders at the same time. It might not be one of a kind but the drama of desire and conflict in a small space certainly grasps our eyes. (LEE Sang-yong)

Closed Note
Japan 2007 138min 35mm COLOR

The film is equipped with the best combination possible for a Japanese commercial film directed by Yukisada Isao starring SAWAJIRI Erika, ISEYA Yusuke and TAKEUCHI Yuko. A college student Kae, who dreams of becoming a teacher, discovers a notebook in the house she has just moved in. The notebook turns out to be the diary of a woman, Mano Ibuki, who had just started teaching in primary school. Kae becomes absorbed by the woman’s pure heart, reading about her life and love. She falls for a painter, Ishitobi, while working at her part time job. As time passes, she finds out an unexpected sad truth. As expected of a melodrama with a dazzling cast and crew list, the film brings the traditional element of pure love and unexpected fate along with the surprise of tragic reversal and desperate moments blended in nicely. An autumn love story that reconstructs the merits of previous Japanese melodramas. (KWON Yong-min)

There were many Korean stars there and even a close encounter or two; however my friends and I are not familiar with these stars so reactions were a bit late if interested at all.

One of the Busan residents that was familiar with Jackie’s co-teachers was nice enough to make reservations for us and we had the best dinner ever. We ate Som Gap Sal, so not how you really write it but how you pronounce it, which is usually pork because beef is too expensive, but you take the meat and cook it on a grill in the middle of the table then when the meat is ready you wrap it in a leaf and can put things like roasted garlic in it too. The random woman in the picture was our waitress who wanted to be in the pic so we figured why not!

After dinner was the club. The first place we went to was called Vinyl Underground, but Jackie and I didn’t like the music so we left and went to a “hip hop” club Foxy Bar ($15) where the Korean boys are a touchy feely non-dancing wonder. It was so sad. But as fate would have it some other Americans chose this place too and one of them just happened to be my frat brother from Ohio! I heard before I left the States that he had gone to do the same thing so it was good to actually see him.

But good quickly turned to frustrated when Jackie and I once again shared a bed at a beloved love motel. Do to unforeseen nudity we were forced to find other nightly provisions and her co-teachers needed a place to stay as well. We went clear across town in a taxi and like 3am because all the places in the area we were, were all booked.

These pictures are of Me, Jackie, Kali, and Caitlin at the PIFF Pavilion

Sunday was a bit less eventful. We missed a free movie due to bad timing and great pastries, we caught a Korean film that I actually find interesting in hind site, and we saw the Korean or PIFF Walk of Fame. I wish I had taken pictures of it but there were so many people walking on the street it was impossible to get a clear shot.

However, my overall advice to anyone who travels to a film festival or any international event where it is a very large crowd, three things one should keep in mind:

You know what you are interested in and not all people have the same tastes (in this case in movies) and you know what it takes for you to have a good time so travel with like minded people

Do your own research so that you are not relying on one person to have all the answers

Chalk up your losses and look for the good in any and all experiences that you have that others never will

The Mei-Li Diaries

2007-10-03T17:02:00.001+09:00

Today is Foundation Day here in Korea and although I have no idea what that means I know I get the day off. I am bored out of my mind. Sort of. You see I didn't have enough money to go to the Festival seeing as I have US bills to pay and I have other scheduled trips, but that also left me alone for the day. So let's see what I have done:

Went to see the Nanny Diaries
Bought my ticket for the train to Busan there and back
Walked around downtown Gumi twice
Bought a ticket for Rush Hour 3
Purchased a coffee mug from Angel-in-us Coffee to add to my mug collection
Am paying to use the Internet to write about my current revelations

After watching the Nanny Diaries I have found that she and I have a lot in common. While she was taking this time off watching one kid and searching for her true self I find myself doing the same but watching over 600 children. She moved away from home to NY from Jersey, I pick a whole new country.

One should believe that in being an only child you are given enough time alone to figure out just who you are and who you want to become but honestly you are just given enough time to over analyze everything and second guess yourself. But I'm still glad I did it. And I still want to do it.

Traveling the world should never be viewed as a luxury but a prerequisite to entering what we consider to be "the real world". When experiencing other cultures we become aware of our little bubble and just how to burst it without hurting others. We become sensitive to other cultures and how to adapt to new situations other than a change in hair color, or any other thing that can be viewed as superficial when you look at the whole grand scheme of things.

With each passing day here in Gumi I am learning that maybe I am ready to be a grown up and actually go after the things that I let sit in the back of my head for so long, like fashion school (www.fidm.com) but as I continue on I will not second guess. Thanks for listening.

Learning How to Deal

2007-09-28T11:46:00.000+09:00

Well I have been here for one month now and I am learning how to deal. So in the time that I have been here this is what I have learned:

Investigate banking information before you leave the States
You can never ask too many questions
The extra money for McDonald's combos are worth it
Don't get frustrated at the constant "I don't know" spoken by Koreans when you didn't ask them a question in the first place, it's their way of saying they don't understand
It takes them a while to respond because they are trying to think in their head so be patient
The best three channels to watch if you don't have cable are OCN, MBC movies, and Super Action channel
I never get tired of watching CSI: Las Vegas, NY, or Miami
"Everybody Loves Raymond" is a lot funnier when it's the only American sitcom to watch
Last minute is not a bad thing in Korea
Youtube is my source to the outside world
Just because you don't say Thousand after Won doesn't make whatever you're buying less expensive

It Lasts Longer

2007-09-21T09:03:00.000+09:00

My friends have recently made some pictures of us available that I wouldn't mind sharing with the world. This was during the time of orientation so Aug 24-30. The pictures are not in chronological order.

This Caitlin and Kali on David's and Art's shoulders (l to r) and Scott in the front.

Jakie, Kali, and I in a bar trying to imitate the poster behind us.

Better imitation of the poster.

Forget the imitation! "Cheese"

Wild night of Korean Karaoke!

Last day together. Sad

Seoul Seoul Def

2007-09-17T11:46:00.000+09:00

I'm back from Seoul and man I have to say that it was one for the books. I will give a small synopsis. Since my camera is still not working I will have to later attach pictures from my friends websites.

Friday:

Raining Cats and Dogs
No place to stay
Random "Love Hotel" fit for a mistress

Okay so looks a bit crazy right? Well Jackie and I didn't have a place to stay because as it turns out there was a "mix-up" about what days we were coming and that left us out on the street. Relying on the kindness of strangers we stayed in a motel that is call a "Love Hotel"

This is the bed if you look closely you can see the curtains that are to be drawn around the bed

This is the view of the TV and computers on either side. Free Internet! In the middle is the fridge and place they store the robes.

This is the bathroom that I was very excited about until I realized that there was no door. That made showering very interesting.

Saturday:

Hot
Stored our bags at a friends dorm room
Ate any food that wasn't Korean food

Saturday had such a better start. The sun was shining there was no rain and Jackie and I listened to American music on Youtube the whole morning. We took a cab to the Camera District were I bought a charger for my camera that in the long run ended up not working. *Always check there in the store before you buy it. Afterwards we walked around the nearby market place and bought the best Korean pastry ever. It is fried dough with cinnamon and brown sugar in the middle.

We later met up with our friends and ate a Nepalese restaurant called Everest. It was really good and the food came pretty quickly. So if you find yourself in Seoul I recommend it. I don't remember the food we had but here are the pictures.

We got Nans which are like big pieces of bread but they are really thin and then different dips/spreads to put on them. That is what the plates are for.

With our bellies full we decide to have another cultural experience and went one of the palaces in Seoul that also houses the Korean Folk Museum. Since I didn't have a camera I bought a coffee table book of both. (All pictures provided were taken by my phone) So here is a long shot of the palace walls. But inside was so gorgeous! All reds and gold and the statues of dragons were amazing. There was no guide or anything so I don't have any interesting history facts.

Afterwards we went to the shopping district where they had a Cold Stone! Oh yeah so got some of that! And it was right next to the Starbucks, where I bought a limited edition coffee mug with Korean Script on it.

One of my friends wanted to buy a new shirt because hers was too hot and we went to the massive 5 story mall, where on all levels my butt is too big for the skinny jeans. That made me a bit frustrated, but hey I can still fit skirts. Still I bought nothing. This is also where we met the dear friend that blew us off and left us without a place to stay on Friday. There was obvious tension but we needed a place to stay on Saturday so we let it all go and on to dinner we went.

This time we chose a Japanese restaurant and I got Crazy Roll sushi. I don't remember the name of it and in Korea they don't have street signs so if I ever find it again it will be out of sheer luck. At this point it is about 8 of us and we catch two cabs to the night life district. We end up at a place called Ho Bar. It played western music and there were a lot of US soldiers there. It was nice to be in a place that had the familiar. In Korea I don't drink (I like to be in total control in unfamiliar places), so I danced. There was a Korean waitress that knew some American dances and it was great.

Our friends that live in a dorm have an early curfew and once they left another member of the group decided to play Christopher Columbus and go discover Seoul with the rest of us dragging along. You see the way Koreans do night life they go from bar to bar and then maybe out dancing. So that's how he wanted to do it. Well he got us lost and we made the biggest 20minute circle ever. I lost my cool and totally went off on him saying we needed to either go to club or go home but not this walking and if he didn't know where we were just say so. (He later admitted to Jackie that in fact didn't know where he was going) We went to an empty bar where I fell asleep and then proceeded to take a taxi ride back to our friends place.

Sunday:

Warm and Sunny (night rain)
Food, Movies, Subway, and Train
Boyfriend shorts

Because we left our bags at our friends dorm we didn't have any clothes. So we wore boy clothes and I had the best Calvin shorts. I have to get some for myself if I ever find them. Anyway let's just say that Jackie and I were not the Super Models of Seoul. One of the things I learned the hard way is that Korean don't have "breakfast food" I think I said that with the TempleStay entry, so once again I was eating food that I don't want. I had these things called mondu and I couldn't stand it. But to kill my attitude my friend took me to Krispy Kreme for doughnuts and that made me smile for a while. (I later found out I was called "grumpy" the whole weekend, which is not true, just Sat night and Sunday) I'm still dealing with culture shock so you know it's hard.

Anyway after "breakfast" we went to see "My Father" a Korean movie about a man who was adopted by a white family in the USA and joins the army to go to Korea and find his birth family. Koreans love tragedies so there was a lot of crying. After the movie we went to pick up our bags and catch the train home. And thus the end of our Seoul Crazy Weekend.

Fashionably speaking

2007-09-14T10:03:00.000+09:00

The fashion here in Korea is a bit different. It is all layers and boho chic. The colors are pretty muted for fall and I have to admit I am not a fan. Here are some pictures that I took of some mannequins downtown.

There happens to be better fashion on-line (http://www.g-mart.com/) but you will have to know some Korean to complete your order. As I find other great fashion spots, tips, or trends I will happily update for the future traveler.

However, if you are into fashion please check out a great place for the truly fashionable, (and for whom I intern), StyleMob http://www.stlyemob.com/ . More than just a myspace for street fashion also a good place to find great vintage fashion and promote your products. Check it out!

Mei-Li Teacher

2007-09-13T13:03:00.000+09:00

My first official week of teaching is almost over and I am so ready for the weekend. I am still dealing with my frustrations of the lack of transportation home from my second school and the fact that my students will be a week behind. I was told by the other teachers that the students are at a lower level than at my main school and that truly worries me. They are however, more vocal - even if it is in Korean.

Teaching so far has not been that bad because I mainly just introduced myself and gave a run down of the class, let them pick their groups and group names, and let them ask questions about me and my country. Next week we will actually work.

I just don't know how real teachers do it. You know what I mean...the ones who actually want to do, go to school for it, not just look at it as a chance at free travel and a way to improve their credit. This is why I have new respect for my friends who choose to do this for a living. I am also grateful to God for friends to go through this with so that when I have my culture shock I am given a reality slap. Although my original reasons for accepting this position is what keeps me grinning and bearing it, I am seeing a whole new reason to be here.

First off Korea is culturally homogeneous and are not used to mixing with other cultures and freely uses the term "foreigner" which I hate. But you know one of my friends kindly told me "You know Mei-Li you can ask them why they do what they do as much as you want but they will never be able to answer it because they have no point of reference. This is all they know" This is all they know.

I taught 3rd graders (Side note: Korean school students start the grade count over when they reach a new school. So instead of going from 8th in middle school to 9th in high school they go from 3rd in middle school to 1st in high school)

The third graders were actually pretty cool. There was even one student who skipped class to take mine twice! But I kinda busted him, I think they were surprised I recognized him. See the thing is once you live in Asia you realize that all Asians don't look alike. Some may have similar features, but they do look different.

I am still a star in my second school and surprisingly it's getting pretty old. I thought me of all people would love the attention but not really. It gets old quickly. I can't imagine how celebrities do it. I guess I am gaining new respect for a diverse group of people. At my main school they are used to seeing me so they pretty much know how to act around me. They say "Good Morning" and bow, I don't have any favorites but I do see some challenges in every class.

I am starting to get closer to my co-teachers and it really helps when trying to get things accomplished. My bank card, downloading music, catching the train, all that is dependant on the help of co-teachers. I truly appreciate them.

FRIDAY

It is the last day of the week and I am on my way to Seoul for the weekend with my friends. It has started raining again and the rumor is that a typhoon is on it's way. That is unfortunate.

My first week of classes are over and next week should run a bit smoother I am hoping.

I got my insurance card and am truly nervous about health care in Korea. I can see that I am going to have to do my own research because words like "Co-Pay" "preventative care" and "sister facility" have confused my co-teacher. So let's just pray I don't have to have another mini surgery like I did in France. Oh yeah and that the doctor I choose speaks English.

Have a great weekend. Cause I plan to!

Temple Stay

2007-09-12T15:36:00.002+09:00

Over the weekend against my better judgement because of my health ( I caught the worst cold), I went on a TempleStay with one of my co-teachers. Now don't get me wrong it is a beautiful scenery with wonderfully painted historic buildings I mean just look at the pictures!

I just didn't know what a TempleStay entailed before I agreed to experience it. Apparently we have to follow the nun's schedule for the whole weekend. Now I am sure that this can possibly be a very spiritual, very calming, and very enlightening experience. However, not if you don't speak Korean, know nothing about the Buddhist culture/religion, and have a head cold.

The weather was absolutely beautiful and since it had been raining for almost 10 days straight the temple hired a photographer on Saturday. I am still waiting for the photographer to email me the pictures if I get them I will post them, but for now I just have these from my co-teacher. Anyway we had to do things like two or three times so he could get the right shot, it was the worst. Pretending to drink tea but not actually sipping. Now I know how the girls on ANTM feel when they go on location for shoots. They now have a new level of respect from me.

So the activities of the day:

Tea with the nuns; the tea made was called "Bird beak" because of the shape of the leaves.

Next was a tour of the grounds and a trek in the woods (Side Note: we wore the worst little rubber shoes that are not fit to climb rocks) and then took pictures on rocks near the water. I told them I was afraid and that I cannot swim, so they put me on the edge of rock, nice.
After the rocks it was time to explain prayer and bowing rituals. Not only do I not speak Korean but I must have been doing horribly because one of the nuns came over put my hands in praying position and said "Just think about Jesus" (My co-teacher alerted them that I am Christian. )
More touring the grounds and then we eat. In a temple you are to eat all your food, so I didn't want anyone but me to make my plate because Korean serve little dishes but many of them, so there are about 6-8 side dishes that all go with your rice, and not all of it is tasty to me.
Around 7pm ( our day started at 3pm) we go in for prayer and apparently 108 bows to Buddha. So wasn't going to happen for me. So I had to go to bed, and rest and try to make it to morning prayer. Turns out "morning prayer" was at 3am so that didn't happen either

Sunday:

Alright so I missed morning prayer, but I made it to breakfast at 6:30 am and after that we tasted the spices in the large clay pots. The make things like chili paste and soybean paste, and soybean oil. They use these to season their food so everything is pretty much home grown.
Then there is more free time and tea with the nuns.
After tea we are able to write a letter to anyone we want (my mother of course) and fill out a questionnaire. So...mine was translated into English and my answers read out loud. No anonymity here. There were three questions and the last was what would we suggest to improve. I wrote having someone there who speaks English for the guest who do not speak Korean so we can have a better idea of what is going on. Turns out they do all you have to do it call ahead. So guess who got to look like a jerk? And the question you are asking in your head is the question I still don't know the answer to. I mean it's just too much like right.

Compliment of the Day

2007-09-07T13:40:00.000+09:00

Compliment of the Day: My blog is being used as a study tool. One of the teachers (who requested that I write about him in one of my entries), is using my blog for informal English.

Buy Cornel West and BMWMB Never Forget

2007-09-06T13:30:00.001+09:00

Well it's official, I'm teaching at two schools. I was so frustrated with Gumi and Korea yesterday I was ready to give my two weeks notice. But you will be surprised what you will take when you look your credit report in the eye.

What frustrates me is the fact that since I don't speak Korean and no one speaks English trying to get a simple yes or no question answered is a great feat. No one seems to ask questions and is satisfied with the first answer given to them. Example: My trip to the bank yesterday.

The first thing I said was that I need a bank that can wire to the US. I ask the girl (well my Co-Teacher did)
she said no.
I said that I was told by another American who has the same bank that they do, so could she please check with the other tellers otherwise I will have to close my acct. The bank does wire just no that particular location. I have to go to another and catch a cab or the bus.
I asked which bus she doesn't know, well can she ask. She Just knows by taxi
Next question; does anyone at the other location speak English?
No.
How do you know you don't work there. (at this point I am highly irritated!) Can you please call that location and find out?
There is someone that speaks English and I have her name.

Note To Self: Never Take the first answer given in Korea.

That was yesterday. Today I visited my second school which is like living in Sandy Springs and working deep in Decatur. Or Cleveland and Akron. Or Refugee Rd and Westerville. It sucks. But the meeting with the Principal and VP was successful. I got to introduce myself to the other teachers and some of the students. It is the schools first time having a Native Speaker and the excitement level was high. When I left the students were hanging out of the window shouting all the English they knew. It was cute and unnerving at the same time. I will also be teaching the teachers at both schools for one hour after school Monday and Tuesday.

My weekend plans are changing very quickly. It turns out I will not be going down to Ulsan, but I actually have two other options:

My co-teacher asked me to accompany her to a Temple this weekend to spend the night and have tea with Buddhist Monks. How cool is that. I told her that I am a Christian just for GP, but I would still love to have tea.
The other NS that lives in the same apt building says that there is a bar that is owned by Westerners (as we like to call ourselves) and we can meet others who live here in the city.

We shall see. I am now off to Daegu to possibly sit alone for two hours in Starbucks because none of my friends have a phone (nor do I) But I do have a book. And in true fashion of being my mother's child all I need is a book and I am fine.

Top Chef Gumi

2007-09-04T12:36:00.001+09:00

My blog is starting to gain popularity. I am loving my school Hyeong-Nam. Everyone is nice and makes sure my basic needs are taken care of in the school; however I think that it is a common misconception that the food in Korea is not in the US. I have been asked multiple times if I eat apples in my country - yes Americans eat apples.

But Speaking of the Korean dining experience, I went to a really nice restaurant with other teachers from the school after being a judge in an English speaking contest (more about that later). The place was located in an opening in the mountains, that I would have totally taken a picture of it if it weren't for the fact that my battery is so dead. It must have been started by a white couple because there were pictures of a white family all over and there were no chopsticks. I remember sitting with my friends watching cooking shows and wondering what it is like to be a judge on those shows when the cooks put together the strangest things. I found out yesterday. In my nostalgia for cheese I ordered the "Sweet Potato Cheese Cutlet" What came to me was a fried pork patti with Korean sweet potato and cheese whipped together and placed together like Chicken Cordon Bleu, and a plain (not sweet) potato on the side with whipped cream and raisins on top. Right. So with this meal we get a free desert, the popular choice....Tomato Juice! WHAT IS THIS! I mean a chocolate chip cookie or something. The whole dessert menu was drinks. I got a Caramel Macchiato with whipped cream and caramel. I ate that thing like the Lost Boys in "Hook" if you have never seen the movie with Robin Williams you must. That will make my actions so much funnier!

Now to the contest. There is a contest in the county for the best English speakers, so yesterday we sat and listed to about 40 students read a script, they came in teams of two and had to act out the parts. My scores were a bit diffrent from the other teachers. They even said that they think I got some of the students mixed up which is very possible seeing as the list was in characters and I only read Korean so quickly. But some pronounce the harder words better than others and that is was I judged them on. Words like Resposible, Relationship, and Likely are harder to say with an Asian accent.

After being here in the school for two days it is very interesting to see the students reaction to an outsider. The girls duck and giggle and the boys yell random things in English and giggle. My co-teacher says she thinks I will be strict, I tell her maybe I will have to be. Sometimes it is hard to remember to speak slowly when I am speaking to adults but with the children I am better about it. As I sit at my desk in the teachers lounge I see them poke their head in the window to look at me. I don't know whether or not to feel like Beyonce or the Elephant Man.

The longer I stay in Korea I start to understand the things that seemed so different in the US.

The Sandles - There are two pairs of shoes Indoor and Outdoor. The random sandles they often where everywhere in the US are the indoor sandles here and their outside shoes are actually very nice. Mostly Addidas are worn by the students inside and Converse outside.
L vs R- There is no letter to distinguish between the two. Even if it is written with one or the other, it all comes out like R unless it is a double LL character. That's why they say "Engorish"

That's all I got for now. One of my co-teachers just asked me if I wanted to go to the movies today and I look forward to doing so. Making friends is going to be very crutial. And once I get paid I have got to get a cell phone. Getting lost in Gumi is not cute!

And Then There was One

2007-09-01T17:26:00.001+09:00

Well it's official. I am in Gumi. First off I am not teaching at an all boys school and I am teaching at two schools. But nothing is definite. How is that even possible? My studio Apt is nice, but I still don't seem to have my address. Apt 205 is as good as it gets. So I will have to bug my Co-Teacher, who is so cute (female), and get her to tell my landlord I need the address. There are 3 Very interesting facts about my studio apt:

The bathroom is my shower. Literally. The floor has a drain and the shower head is connected to the sink.
My kitchen is on the patio with my washing machine. It consists of two gas burners, a fridge, and a rice cooker. Oh and a microwave.
My windows have been painted black to block out the light.

But I have a/c which is an actual luxury that many of my friends know I will never use.

So let's do a run through of my day today:

7Am I find out my toilet doesn't flush and have to demonstrate peeing to my landlord to get her to understand

8Am Watch Home Alone 3 because that is the only thing in English on the TV

8:30 Am Go to my school to meet the Principal where I am fed 3 different times (which isn't a bad thing) and the teachers played mini Show-N-Tell with me to the other teachers and classes. Yes S. Koreans have school every other Sat. No I don't have to work.

BTW did I mention the 15 min walk took me 1hr because I took a wrong turn and ended up in the mountains. Bad childhood memories of a similar incident in Lynch Kentucky arose.

12Pm I arrive home change my clothes and head out to the streets. I really just wanted to go to the mall and buy a few items for school and my students, and some black pants. I really dropped the ball on the whole packing business casual clothes.

2pm After walking halfway there I caught the 15 to what I think is downtown and checked out all the shops. Some of them are really expensive, but there are others not so bad. Not like in Seoul though. They seem to have an unnatural obsession with Jessica Alba. Weird. Anyway I am now here in a PC Bang listening to Avril L. and getting ready to eat at Lotteria (the Korean McD's) because when going to the grocery store it is best to be able to know how to read the food let alone cook it before you buy it. So there will be a dining out budget. Fruit is all I recognize and they have a french bakery here so I will there. In the next blog I hope to have my address and finish uploading my pictures. Plus have fun class stories. Anyoung! Mei

The Korean Folk Village

2007-08-30T00:13:00.002+09:00

This is the Korean Folk Village

These are the clay pots that are used to transport water and on the top are chili peppers drying in the sun.

The man is holding up a piece of hardend honey that he will twist and pull (like taffy) into thin strips that look like spider webs. The following pctures are of the whole process.

This is the Wishing Rock and you write your wish on paper and tie it onto the ropes. You can't tell anyone!

This is like a traditional workshop

The following pictures are of Traditional Korean Housing

This is just a really pretty view of the Korean Country side

The following pictures are of a Traditional School

Do they do everything standing up? This is me on a swing. More sideways pictures to come.

This is the inside of a wealthy home. This picture enlarged is worth seeing.

The National Flower

The following are Sacred Temples and statues out of Lava

The following are of me getting a Korean Manicure. Back in the day they would take a red flower and crush it and mix it with oils and a liquid (possibly water) and put it on their nail for extended periods of time. The nails will naturally turn red and will stay for a few weeks. I didn't keep mine on long enough so I have an orange pinky.

This is the video of the See Saw girls, they are AMAZING!!!

2007-08-30T00:04:00.000+09:00

2007-08-29T23:46:00.001+09:00

Picture of Me, Caitlin, Jakcie, and Elizabeth (l to r) at the Keeping the Guards temple in Seoul.