You know, I went on this intense oatmeal kick my senior year of university and I ate the stuff most everyday, sometimes two packs a day, always the same ones, maple and brown sugar, or cinnamon sugar instant quaker oatmeal packs. I had my mom ship me some to eat this winter, but I was only able to down one packet before I my head was pounding and I felt like I was going to go into a legit sugar coma.
What happened? I guess I just don't eat nearly as much sugar sweet foods as we americans eat on a daily basis. Even Korean deserts and cookies are noticeably less sweet than American versions. I made sugar cookies with my students, and they were like, teacher, that's too sweet. Uh, the primary ingredient is sugar, it's supposed to be sweet. But now I'm off-topic.
Today, I discovered this blogger's recipe for instant oatmeal, and I thought, hmmm, I could get behind this. For the rest of you eating quaker instant oatmeal packets, why don't you use this recipe to make tastier, customizable, less expensive, way better for you oatmeal? If I can find oats, I'll try this out myself. If I botch it horrible it's only something like 10 bucks down the drain.
xoxo
A
Showing posts with label food. Show all posts
Showing posts with label food. Show all posts
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Taxi Drivers and other Run-ins
As a 6'1" (186 cm) tall, blonde hair, very fair skinned woman in Korea, I get quite a bit of attention everywhere I go. It's 9 a.m. here and I've only been outside for maybe 25 minutes total, but I've already gotten about 10 uncomfortable stares plus two random "Hello"s from people I don't know. Standard for a day.
However, I particularly enjoy seeing the look of surprise on a Korean's face when I speak Korean to them. In the last six months or so, my Korean has improved dramatically from bumbling and slow, broken Korean to simple phrases come naturally and complicated explanations or conversations can be had if you are patient with me. And so, when I take a taxi or am approached by a Korean person I can generally make conversation with them without seeming like a complete idiot. It's a nice development and it only took 18 months to achieve.
I have two stories today:
On Valentine's Day I mentioned that I had a little grocery dilemma so I ended up at Home Plus where I made an unsuccessful attempt at finding cream. After picking up some hot dogs (which are HORRIBLE by the way... worst hot dogs ever), I hopped in a cab and said, "신포시장 가주세요" and off we went to Sinpo Market. After a minute he asked me where in sinpo I wanted to go, and I fumbled a bit as my apartment is kind of in a difficult to describe location as it relates to the market. So I just said, "길 알려줄까요?" Shall I just tell you the way? And he said okay. Then he looked at me and announced, I thought you were a Korean.
I beamed as I said, no, American. And we had the usual conversation: what do you do? Teacher. Where? How long? Do you like Korea? Do you like kimchi? You speak Korean well. etc. etc. Then he asked me "결혼했어요?" Are you married? To which I answered no. Oh, you're solo, he mused. To which I interjected, 근데 남자친구 있어요!" And so we started talking about my boyfriend. How old is he. Is he an English teacher? (HA) What does he do? I explained he is still in university, and the taxi driver asked, which university? 중앙대 I replied. And he said... oooooooh, GOOD! (Jungang Univerisity is considered maybe in the top 10 of Korea, just outside the SKY schools (Seoul, Korea, Yonsei University), so it's pretty cool to most Korean that he goes there. Then he asked what he studies. "채육" I replied. Physical Education. Ooooooooh, the taxi driver said, disappointed. "Engineering good! Doctor, good! 채육? hmph" I laughed and then we were at my apartment and I left.
Story 2:
Yesterday, I was walking home and on the street leading to my school a Korean woman was walking in the opposite direction on the other side of the street. I had my earphones in, jamming to some big bang, but I did notice that she was crossing the street and seemed to be looking right at me. So I took my earphones out, and our conversation, entirely in Korean began:
Woman: Are you Russian?
Me: No.
Woman: Where are you from?
Me: America:
Woman: Oh! America! Do you speak English well?
Me: (confused...) uh, yeah.
Woman: Oh good, do you speak Korean well?
Me: Uh, a little.
Woman: You speak really well! What do you do here?
Me: Teacher. That school *pointing*
Woman: Oh, my son is in the boys school next door. 3rd grade.
Me: oh okay.
Woman: At my house I have a son. I want him to speak English. Teach him.
Me: Umm, I'm a little busy. I don't know *this is weird*
Woman: I want him to speak English well, so what can I do? How much would it be to teach him?
Me: I don't know... uhhh *mumble* 40,000 won/50,000 won, for one hour.
Woman: Oh okay, and when can you do it.
Me: Um, I don't know, I'm taking a Korean class and I am really busy these days.
Woman: Oh you're busy. I see.
Me: Yes.
Woman: let's walk together. Where are you going? Where do you live?
Me: Sinpo.
Woman: Ah, Sinpo, okay. Let's walk. How long have you lived in Korea.
Me: Since 2009. A year and a half or so.
Woman: Wow! You speak Korean so well!
Me: No, just a little.
Woman: How long will you stay in Korea?
Me: I don't know exactly. 계속 (continually... without end?)
Woman: Really??? No! Why? How? 계속??
Me: I don't know exactly. I like it here.
Woman: Will you teach at that school always?
Me: No, I want to study Korean.
Woman: But already your Korean is good.
Me: I want it to be better. And I will go to Seoul to study.
Woman: Ah. But you don't want to leave Korea?
Me: No, I like Korea.
Woman: Why? (She legit couldn't understand why I would like it here)
Me: The people are nice. The food is good. My job is good.
Woman: The food? Do you like kimchi?
Me: Yes, I like everything.
Woman: Would you like to eat some 떡국 (rice cake soup) at my house? I have 떡국. Let's eat together.
Me: I'm sorry, I have to go.
Woman: Just a little 떡국 and we can talk. And my son.
Me: I'm really sorry, but I have to go study. I'm sorry. *walks quickly away*
I guess I missed out on an opportunity to a) eat possibly delicious homemade 떡국 and b) get a sweet tutoring job, but it seemed weird. In America, we don't just go to strangers homes and eat soup. I guess in Korea I could do it. I told my boyfriend about and he was like, wow, good job! GO! I was like, uh no.
That's it!
xoxo
A
However, I particularly enjoy seeing the look of surprise on a Korean's face when I speak Korean to them. In the last six months or so, my Korean has improved dramatically from bumbling and slow, broken Korean to simple phrases come naturally and complicated explanations or conversations can be had if you are patient with me. And so, when I take a taxi or am approached by a Korean person I can generally make conversation with them without seeming like a complete idiot. It's a nice development and it only took 18 months to achieve.
I have two stories today:
On Valentine's Day I mentioned that I had a little grocery dilemma so I ended up at Home Plus where I made an unsuccessful attempt at finding cream. After picking up some hot dogs (which are HORRIBLE by the way... worst hot dogs ever), I hopped in a cab and said, "신포시장 가주세요" and off we went to Sinpo Market. After a minute he asked me where in sinpo I wanted to go, and I fumbled a bit as my apartment is kind of in a difficult to describe location as it relates to the market. So I just said, "길 알려줄까요?" Shall I just tell you the way? And he said okay. Then he looked at me and announced, I thought you were a Korean.
I beamed as I said, no, American. And we had the usual conversation: what do you do? Teacher. Where? How long? Do you like Korea? Do you like kimchi? You speak Korean well. etc. etc. Then he asked me "결혼했어요?" Are you married? To which I answered no. Oh, you're solo, he mused. To which I interjected, 근데 남자친구 있어요!" And so we started talking about my boyfriend. How old is he. Is he an English teacher? (HA) What does he do? I explained he is still in university, and the taxi driver asked, which university? 중앙대 I replied. And he said... oooooooh, GOOD! (Jungang Univerisity is considered maybe in the top 10 of Korea, just outside the SKY schools (Seoul, Korea, Yonsei University), so it's pretty cool to most Korean that he goes there. Then he asked what he studies. "채육" I replied. Physical Education. Ooooooooh, the taxi driver said, disappointed. "Engineering good! Doctor, good! 채육? hmph" I laughed and then we were at my apartment and I left.
Story 2:
Yesterday, I was walking home and on the street leading to my school a Korean woman was walking in the opposite direction on the other side of the street. I had my earphones in, jamming to some big bang, but I did notice that she was crossing the street and seemed to be looking right at me. So I took my earphones out, and our conversation, entirely in Korean began:
Woman: Are you Russian?
Me: No.
Woman: Where are you from?
Me: America:
Woman: Oh! America! Do you speak English well?
Me: (confused...) uh, yeah.
Woman: Oh good, do you speak Korean well?
Me: Uh, a little.
Woman: You speak really well! What do you do here?
Me: Teacher. That school *pointing*
Woman: Oh, my son is in the boys school next door. 3rd grade.
Me: oh okay.
Woman: At my house I have a son. I want him to speak English. Teach him.
Me: Umm, I'm a little busy. I don't know *this is weird*
Woman: I want him to speak English well, so what can I do? How much would it be to teach him?
Me: I don't know... uhhh *mumble* 40,000 won/50,000 won, for one hour.
Woman: Oh okay, and when can you do it.
Me: Um, I don't know, I'm taking a Korean class and I am really busy these days.
Woman: Oh you're busy. I see.
Me: Yes.
Woman: let's walk together. Where are you going? Where do you live?
Me: Sinpo.
Woman: Ah, Sinpo, okay. Let's walk. How long have you lived in Korea.
Me: Since 2009. A year and a half or so.
Woman: Wow! You speak Korean so well!
Me: No, just a little.
Woman: How long will you stay in Korea?
Me: I don't know exactly. 계속 (continually... without end?)
Woman: Really??? No! Why? How? 계속??
Me: I don't know exactly. I like it here.
Woman: Will you teach at that school always?
Me: No, I want to study Korean.
Woman: But already your Korean is good.
Me: I want it to be better. And I will go to Seoul to study.
Woman: Ah. But you don't want to leave Korea?
Me: No, I like Korea.
Woman: Why? (She legit couldn't understand why I would like it here)
Me: The people are nice. The food is good. My job is good.
Woman: The food? Do you like kimchi?
Me: Yes, I like everything.
Woman: Would you like to eat some 떡국 (rice cake soup) at my house? I have 떡국. Let's eat together.
Me: I'm sorry, I have to go.
Woman: Just a little 떡국 and we can talk. And my son.
Me: I'm really sorry, but I have to go study. I'm sorry. *walks quickly away*
I guess I missed out on an opportunity to a) eat possibly delicious homemade 떡국 and b) get a sweet tutoring job, but it seemed weird. In America, we don't just go to strangers homes and eat soup. I guess in Korea I could do it. I told my boyfriend about and he was like, wow, good job! GO! I was like, uh no.
That's it!
xoxo
A
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
My Valentine's Day mistake
Welp, Valentine's Day was yesterday and it was pretty good overall. At school in the daytime, I made that really cute card, which Hoon really loved and was super surprised that I made all by myself. Plus, the chocolates and peppero that I made turned out super great and the bags and everything were just about perfect. Like a professional! ^^
Then, there was this little mistake. I was planning to make this positively delicious tomato cream sauce pasta that I got a recipe for off Pioneer Woman (who just so happens to be one of my idols).
Well, after school finished, I went to EMart to pick up some ingredients (pasta, tomato sauce, cream, parsley). The problem I have with E-Mart is that their dairy section is constantly changing. Some items that they carry get removed mysteriously practically overnight. And others move to completely different locations, and then coffee drinks replace them. This is what happened to the heavy cream which three weeks ago, there were several different brands of and plenty of them at that. Yesterday, at EMart, I circled the coffee/cream/butter/cheese refrigerator three times without success. Then, finally I saw it! 크림! Cream! I snatched it up and was off.
Then I got home. As I was unpacking the food, lo and behold I discover this cream caveat that I didn't originally notice: *휘핑* 크림 aaaaaaaaaaaaaack. Whipping Cream.
For those of you who are completely clueless about cooking you absolutely cannot use whipping cream in a cream sauce pasta dish. Unless you want to make yourself sick. So here I was with two cups of whipping cream and no heavy cream. So I decided to make my way to Home Plus, another significantly larger supermarket in Korea. I was certain that what EMart lacks (which is often does, and in many ways) HomePlus would surely have.
I was wrong.
The dairy section (or more specifically the milk and cream section was virtually empty). I heard a rumor that they were going to stop selling milk in Korea and it looks like Home Plus was hit hard. They had hardly any milk at all. And the cream? I found the little price marker on the shelf for the cream, but there wasn't a bottle or jug or carton of the stuff to be found. Sure, I could find liters of strawberry milk, and about 2 dozen soy milks, but one 250 mL carton of cream? Completely gone.
So I gave up, after many an "아아아아 진짜? 없어? 어떻게? 정말 어떻게 하지?" and decided to make macaroni and cheese with cut up hot dogs.
Hoon may have been happier with the mac & cheese than he ever would have been with the pasta anyways. Funny how that works.
xoxo
A
Then, there was this little mistake. I was planning to make this positively delicious tomato cream sauce pasta that I got a recipe for off Pioneer Woman (who just so happens to be one of my idols).
Well, after school finished, I went to EMart to pick up some ingredients (pasta, tomato sauce, cream, parsley). The problem I have with E-Mart is that their dairy section is constantly changing. Some items that they carry get removed mysteriously practically overnight. And others move to completely different locations, and then coffee drinks replace them. This is what happened to the heavy cream which three weeks ago, there were several different brands of and plenty of them at that. Yesterday, at EMart, I circled the coffee/cream/butter/cheese refrigerator three times without success. Then, finally I saw it! 크림! Cream! I snatched it up and was off.
Then I got home. As I was unpacking the food, lo and behold I discover this cream caveat that I didn't originally notice: *휘핑* 크림 aaaaaaaaaaaaaack. Whipping Cream.
For those of you who are completely clueless about cooking you absolutely cannot use whipping cream in a cream sauce pasta dish. Unless you want to make yourself sick. So here I was with two cups of whipping cream and no heavy cream. So I decided to make my way to Home Plus, another significantly larger supermarket in Korea. I was certain that what EMart lacks (which is often does, and in many ways) HomePlus would surely have.
I was wrong.
The dairy section (or more specifically the milk and cream section was virtually empty). I heard a rumor that they were going to stop selling milk in Korea and it looks like Home Plus was hit hard. They had hardly any milk at all. And the cream? I found the little price marker on the shelf for the cream, but there wasn't a bottle or jug or carton of the stuff to be found. Sure, I could find liters of strawberry milk, and about 2 dozen soy milks, but one 250 mL carton of cream? Completely gone.
So I gave up, after many an "아아아아 진짜? 없어? 어떻게? 정말 어떻게 하지?" and decided to make macaroni and cheese with cut up hot dogs.
Hoon may have been happier with the mac & cheese than he ever would have been with the pasta anyways. Funny how that works.
xoxo
A
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Exciting
Big news!!
I brought my cucumber kimchi and sweet soy sauce braised beef/quail eggs to my boyfriend's apartment. His mom, and two cousins (one boy and one girl) were also there and so I was a little nervous to here their opinions. JH didn't tell them that I was bringing food so they were impressed/surprised that I brought anything at all. But then, his mom opened the container with the cucumber kimchi and said, omo, where did you get this? And I said, I made it. And she was super impressed because it was so good looking. And then she opened the other container and she was even more surprised.
It was awesome. They were super impressed that I've taken an interest in Korean cooking.
But I warned them: it may look good, but I can't guarantee that you'll like the taste.
JH ate the kimchi first and he didn't say anything right away except: 엄마, 먹어봐, 예찬아! 먹어봐, 예본아 먹어봐, which just mom, try it, Yechan, try it, Yebon, try it. And they all did and they all lost it. They said it was sooooooo good and I was so so happy. I had been nervous originally that it was too spicy, but I wiped away some of the extra spice and so it wasn't so bad at all. In fact, I'd agree that it was quite good indeed. They said that it was better than most restaurants' and his mom kept saying, "아 엄마보다 더 맛있지... 내가 보다 더 맛있어, 어떻게..." which is, "Ah, it's better than mom's. It's more delicious than mine, how can it be?"
Then they praised teh 장조림. I'm so happy they liked it so much.
Oh, and then his mom called his dad and she told him about how I made such delicious food and he asked to talk to me and he said he was really happy I made korean food, and that he wants to try some, and that he loves me because I cook Korean food, and I like Korean culture, and because I am interested in Korea. *^___^*
I'm going back tomorrow and JH insisted I bring more kimchi. I will do so obligingly. ^^
I can't wait to cook more food. I'll be sure to post pictures!
xoxo
A
I brought my cucumber kimchi and sweet soy sauce braised beef/quail eggs to my boyfriend's apartment. His mom, and two cousins (one boy and one girl) were also there and so I was a little nervous to here their opinions. JH didn't tell them that I was bringing food so they were impressed/surprised that I brought anything at all. But then, his mom opened the container with the cucumber kimchi and said, omo, where did you get this? And I said, I made it. And she was super impressed because it was so good looking. And then she opened the other container and she was even more surprised.
It was awesome. They were super impressed that I've taken an interest in Korean cooking.
But I warned them: it may look good, but I can't guarantee that you'll like the taste.
JH ate the kimchi first and he didn't say anything right away except: 엄마, 먹어봐, 예찬아! 먹어봐, 예본아 먹어봐, which just mom, try it, Yechan, try it, Yebon, try it. And they all did and they all lost it. They said it was sooooooo good and I was so so happy. I had been nervous originally that it was too spicy, but I wiped away some of the extra spice and so it wasn't so bad at all. In fact, I'd agree that it was quite good indeed. They said that it was better than most restaurants' and his mom kept saying, "아 엄마보다 더 맛있지... 내가 보다 더 맛있어, 어떻게..." which is, "Ah, it's better than mom's. It's more delicious than mine, how can it be?"
Then they praised teh 장조림. I'm so happy they liked it so much.
Oh, and then his mom called his dad and she told him about how I made such delicious food and he asked to talk to me and he said he was really happy I made korean food, and that he wants to try some, and that he loves me because I cook Korean food, and I like Korean culture, and because I am interested in Korea. *^___^*
I'm going back tomorrow and JH insisted I bring more kimchi. I will do so obligingly. ^^
I can't wait to cook more food. I'll be sure to post pictures!
xoxo
A
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
Sometimes I wonder...
What's the point. I am feeling pretty annoyed right now. I don't really have a right to be, but I'm still annoyed. I'm pretty aware that I'm being a shitty, but I don't care.
Well, now that that mystic brooding is over, onto some other shit.
I haven't been up to translating the lyrics lately because I'm tired all the time and I've been kind of down. Winter blues maybe?
Anyhow, my students have been really great. I'm not actually teaching any classes right now, but about 5 former grade 3s (I guess now that the year is over, they are technically high schoolers or something. I don't know exactly) come in to study every morning (with some other korean teacher) but they always come to my office early and we've been cooking. Yesterday we had a horribly failed attempt at ddeokbokki (떡볶이- fried spicy rice cake) and today we had an amazingly successful go at banana pancakes with peanutbutter&nutella syrup/sauce and whipped cream. Tomorrow we will be making 김치전 which is one of my all time favorite treats so I hope they turn out well.
Also, I anticipate I'll be compiling a hot list in the next week or so. Maybe I'll do a video instead of regular written post. Who really knows?
xoxo
A
Well, now that that mystic brooding is over, onto some other shit.
I haven't been up to translating the lyrics lately because I'm tired all the time and I've been kind of down. Winter blues maybe?
Anyhow, my students have been really great. I'm not actually teaching any classes right now, but about 5 former grade 3s (I guess now that the year is over, they are technically high schoolers or something. I don't know exactly) come in to study every morning (with some other korean teacher) but they always come to my office early and we've been cooking. Yesterday we had a horribly failed attempt at ddeokbokki (떡볶이- fried spicy rice cake) and today we had an amazingly successful go at banana pancakes with peanutbutter&nutella syrup/sauce and whipped cream. Tomorrow we will be making 김치전 which is one of my all time favorite treats so I hope they turn out well.
Also, I anticipate I'll be compiling a hot list in the next week or so. Maybe I'll do a video instead of regular written post. Who really knows?
xoxo
A
Monday, October 11, 2010
My Phone. My ipod touch. My gadgets.
So. I officially have downloaded about 20 or so apps for the phone. It got easier to download apps once I discovered I didn't have to do them off the T-Store because the T-Store is entirely in Korean. This makes it good for things like subway maps, but terrible for other things, like me finding apps that are actually useful or comprehensible. I found the android market (it was a pretty clearly labeled app on my app page, so I'm pretty dumb for not seeing it) and have snatched up a few must haves. These are the things I've downloaded so far:
1. A subway map. I actually downloaded this before I downloaded twitter or facebook apps. It's that freaking important.
2. Facebook for Android
3. Twitter for Android
4. Incheon International Airport Information (maps, incoming flights and delays and stuff)
5. Big Bang Schedule (uh, pretty damn important)
6. Pipe Tycoon (a game on the T-Store that is like that ipod app with the pipes and water)
7. 할인 항공 a Korean discount flight finder app. It's all in Korean, so we'll see how much I use it.
8. Justin Bieber- Baby ringtone and bell app (My boo's ringtone)
9. Taeyang- I need a girl ringtone and bell app (my phone's standard ringtone)
10. My Coex: An app for the Coex mall. Maps and some discount information and event info
11. 오! 마이 디데이 (Oh! My D-Day): Korean people use the term d-day as a konglish interpretation of a countdown. This is simply a countdown app. I currently have a countdown till me and my boo's 100 day anniversary and a countdown till Christmas.
12. Flash: Flashlight app
13. 2NE1: A 2ne1 app with all their music videos, all their albums, a fuckton of pictures and stuff, a calendar and a bunch of other shit for fangirls or fanboys.
14. 볼뿌요: like bejeweled but super speed and with add layers of interest. Really fun. addicting.
15. CGV: an app for reserving movie tickets at CGV, the biggest movie theater chain in Korea
16. Photofunia: A photo editing app. Funsies.
17. GoStop: what is sounds like, a go-stop app
18. myExpense Pal: A budget monitor
19. Gator News: A Florida football news aggregator
20. Florida Gators: A Florida Football Fan App
21. Korea NextBus!: A moderately useful bus tracking app. I need to figure that one out still.
22. Google Translate
23. NYTimes
24. Blogger-droid: To blog with.
To those of you with androids out there, what apps do you recommend I check out? Anything for kpop? Anything special for Big Bang that I haven't found? Any Hello Kitty apps? Any Korea related apps?
I also got my 5th generation ipod touch at school today. Actually I think it came on Friday, but I went home from work early, so I didn't actually receive it until today. It's beautiful but it desperately needs to be covered and protected from the dangerous world out there. I already got a case for my phone (it sucks, but it'll do... it's already gotten a dozen or so compliments) but the ipod touch is probably more at risk for scratches due to the patent glossy silver back. It has the camera in the front and the back which is suuuuuuuuuper awesome. Plus I can do facetime video recording on it, which strangely I can't seem to figure out how to do on the galaxy. It's weird because you can do facetime calling on my phone (all cellphones have that function here pretty much) which requires video, but I can't just record a video on the front-facing camera. I do have a bunch of fancy camera settings on the phone though (haven't checked out the ipod's camera yet too much).
I synched my old apps from my old ipod touch (which I sold maybe 3 weeks ago) and I realized how few apps I actually had. But then, I only had the touch for two weeks maybe. And its only wifi so I couldn't download things whenever I want (I'm basically addicted on the 3G on my phone). But I'm working on getting more things. I'm having some issues with downloading games on the droid os. idk why, but it only downloads maybe 2 out of every three I select to dl. And I can't access the droid market for games only on the phone. So I guess the touch will be the game and music gadget and the phone will be the camera and phone and internet gadget.
Which brings me to my next question: What ipod apps should I be downloading. I have Korean Air, nytimes, papertoss, skpe, sudoku tap tap revenge, time mobile, wikipanion, and naver maps. suggestions?
So tonight I made nachos. With the giant block of sharp cheddar cheese that Beks got me at Costco. I bought redpepper and chopped em up and seasoned up some frozen popcorn chicken (you know, you make due with whatcha got... didn't have time to go buy fresh chicken or beef) and tossed em on some tortilla chips. The cheese was clutch because the rest of it was kind of ho-hum. But hot damn that cheese.
Tomorrow I'm gonna go to the gym and exercise those nachos off and then I'll make eggs and cheddar cheese. There is a lot of cheese that needs to be eaten and I'm not gonna let that 10,000 won I spent on it
go to waste.
xoxo
A
1. A subway map. I actually downloaded this before I downloaded twitter or facebook apps. It's that freaking important.
2. Facebook for Android
3. Twitter for Android
4. Incheon International Airport Information (maps, incoming flights and delays and stuff)
5. Big Bang Schedule (uh, pretty damn important)
6. Pipe Tycoon (a game on the T-Store that is like that ipod app with the pipes and water)
7. 할인 항공 a Korean discount flight finder app. It's all in Korean, so we'll see how much I use it.
8. Justin Bieber- Baby ringtone and bell app (My boo's ringtone)
9. Taeyang- I need a girl ringtone and bell app (my phone's standard ringtone)
10. My Coex: An app for the Coex mall. Maps and some discount information and event info
11. 오! 마이 디데이 (Oh! My D-Day): Korean people use the term d-day as a konglish interpretation of a countdown. This is simply a countdown app. I currently have a countdown till me and my boo's 100 day anniversary and a countdown till Christmas.
12. Flash: Flashlight app
13. 2NE1: A 2ne1 app with all their music videos, all their albums, a fuckton of pictures and stuff, a calendar and a bunch of other shit for fangirls or fanboys.
14. 볼뿌요: like bejeweled but super speed and with add layers of interest. Really fun. addicting.
15. CGV: an app for reserving movie tickets at CGV, the biggest movie theater chain in Korea
16. Photofunia: A photo editing app. Funsies.
17. GoStop: what is sounds like, a go-stop app
18. myExpense Pal: A budget monitor
19. Gator News: A Florida football news aggregator
20. Florida Gators: A Florida Football Fan App
21. Korea NextBus!: A moderately useful bus tracking app. I need to figure that one out still.
22. Google Translate
23. NYTimes
24. Blogger-droid: To blog with.
To those of you with androids out there, what apps do you recommend I check out? Anything for kpop? Anything special for Big Bang that I haven't found? Any Hello Kitty apps? Any Korea related apps?
I also got my 5th generation ipod touch at school today. Actually I think it came on Friday, but I went home from work early, so I didn't actually receive it until today. It's beautiful but it desperately needs to be covered and protected from the dangerous world out there. I already got a case for my phone (it sucks, but it'll do... it's already gotten a dozen or so compliments) but the ipod touch is probably more at risk for scratches due to the patent glossy silver back. It has the camera in the front and the back which is suuuuuuuuuper awesome. Plus I can do facetime video recording on it, which strangely I can't seem to figure out how to do on the galaxy. It's weird because you can do facetime calling on my phone (all cellphones have that function here pretty much) which requires video, but I can't just record a video on the front-facing camera. I do have a bunch of fancy camera settings on the phone though (haven't checked out the ipod's camera yet too much).
I synched my old apps from my old ipod touch (which I sold maybe 3 weeks ago) and I realized how few apps I actually had. But then, I only had the touch for two weeks maybe. And its only wifi so I couldn't download things whenever I want (I'm basically addicted on the 3G on my phone). But I'm working on getting more things. I'm having some issues with downloading games on the droid os. idk why, but it only downloads maybe 2 out of every three I select to dl. And I can't access the droid market for games only on the phone. So I guess the touch will be the game and music gadget and the phone will be the camera and phone and internet gadget.
Which brings me to my next question: What ipod apps should I be downloading. I have Korean Air, nytimes, papertoss, skpe, sudoku tap tap revenge, time mobile, wikipanion, and naver maps. suggestions?
So tonight I made nachos. With the giant block of sharp cheddar cheese that Beks got me at Costco. I bought redpepper and chopped em up and seasoned up some frozen popcorn chicken (you know, you make due with whatcha got... didn't have time to go buy fresh chicken or beef) and tossed em on some tortilla chips. The cheese was clutch because the rest of it was kind of ho-hum. But hot damn that cheese.
Tomorrow I'm gonna go to the gym and exercise those nachos off and then I'll make eggs and cheddar cheese. There is a lot of cheese that needs to be eaten and I'm not gonna let that 10,000 won I spent on it
go to waste.
xoxo
A
My addiction to buying shit.
So, this weekend my phone broke. And by that I mean the scan completely got fucked up and I couldn't read anything on the screen and so I couldn't really receive texts (or read them at least) and I couldn't tell who was calling me. So anyways, I went with the bf to the cell phone store Friday night to try to acquire a new phone. I have been saying I really wanted the Galaxy S phone really really badly, but I didn't have a reason to buy it. But, now was the perfect opportunity. But, to my dismay, E-2 visa holders cannot purchase a Galaxy S smartphone because it requires a two-year contract and there isn't a two-year E-2 visa. So I was looking at some other phones (iphone 4 still has a two week reservation wait, which wouldn't have worked, and also no-go for E-2 visa holders). But, then, my boyfriend proposed that he sign the contract for me in order for me to avoid the prohibition on my smartphone purchase. But, I was a little hesitant to accept right away because, god forbid, something terrible happened (either in my life or in our relationship or in my job) and I have to leave Korea (or we break up *shudder*) he could get totally screwed over. I would never intentionally do that, but sometimes crazy shit comes up. I just don't want things to be too complicated or pressured because he did this for me. But he insisted that it was okay. And he called his parents and made sure they thought it was an okay idea and they said yes (I also briefly talked to his mom to say hello and she said she missed me. I miss her too^^) He seemed to really be in favor of me getting the galaxy s (living vicariously through me maybe?) and so I finally caved. And he signed the contract (all the bills go directly to me, it's just his name on the contract, not mine). So I'm really thankful for that. I find it really sweet because he anticipates us (probably) staying together for at least a significant amount of time, and because he obviously trusts me enough to do that for me.
Actually, the store we went to didn't actually have the phone on hand, so they had to get it delivered from another place. And so they were gonna call my boyfriend and have us come pick it up again. He had to go to the library to study, and I was meeting up with some friends to hang out at the Soongsil University festival. Basically lots of drinking and a music performance and playing. So we parted and he said he'd bring me the phone when he could. I went off with my friends, and he hit the stacks, and I got my eat and drink on. About an hour and a half later he came back with the phone store bag and I got super excited. And to make it even better, he wrapped it up in Hello Kitty wrapping paper like it was a special gift. And he wrote me a note too. It was adorably cute. He's freaking wonderful. Unfortunately he had to go back to studying.
Got my phone. Had someone else who has a galaxy s help me get on the internet. Took some pictures. And then got down to the business of drinking more. Gotten pleasantly tipsy. Saw Beast (b2st, 비스트) perform three songs. Complained a bunch to my boyfriend about it being cold (via textmessage) and he surprised me by coming back. And then we went to one of the booths that was really awesome. At that booth, there was a dj and it was like a club but open air and all Soongsil students. And it was super awesome. And we danced a lot and took shots and it was ridiculous. Promptly proceeded from tipsy to drunk.
Went home.
Saturday morning met M & C in Myeongdong. I bought a new dress and a vest (hahahahahah PAIGEY) and they are both super cute (ESPECIALLY the dress, omg)
Went to the War Memorial for the Seoul Soul Festival. Was like 5 people away from Se7en and Taeyang and it was amazing (review in full coming later). Went to a chicken hof with the girls. The chicken hof place had the most amazing 모든감자튀김 (mixed french fries). There were regular crinkle cut fries, tater tots, sweet potato fries, waffle fries, onion rings, smiley face shaped fried potatoes, and the most awesomely delicious fried mashed potato dallops (there isn't a good way to explain them. Imagine mashed potatoes pushed through a frosting bag/tip to create a ridged mountain of fried mashed potato goodness). And the chicken was pretty good. But omg, the french fries. to die for.
Then we went to Hongdae and I got my tragus pierced. It didn't hurt very much then, and I hardly notice it now. Sometimes if I play with it, it tickles my ear, which is strange.
My league team won our Sunday game. I had mandoo and bulgogi with a friend for dinner. Things are looking up.
I finished my worksheets for this week already and there are no high school classes!!
NICE-UH.
xoxo
A
Actually, the store we went to didn't actually have the phone on hand, so they had to get it delivered from another place. And so they were gonna call my boyfriend and have us come pick it up again. He had to go to the library to study, and I was meeting up with some friends to hang out at the Soongsil University festival. Basically lots of drinking and a music performance and playing. So we parted and he said he'd bring me the phone when he could. I went off with my friends, and he hit the stacks, and I got my eat and drink on. About an hour and a half later he came back with the phone store bag and I got super excited. And to make it even better, he wrapped it up in Hello Kitty wrapping paper like it was a special gift. And he wrote me a note too. It was adorably cute. He's freaking wonderful. Unfortunately he had to go back to studying.
Got my phone. Had someone else who has a galaxy s help me get on the internet. Took some pictures. And then got down to the business of drinking more. Gotten pleasantly tipsy. Saw Beast (b2st, 비스트) perform three songs. Complained a bunch to my boyfriend about it being cold (via textmessage) and he surprised me by coming back. And then we went to one of the booths that was really awesome. At that booth, there was a dj and it was like a club but open air and all Soongsil students. And it was super awesome. And we danced a lot and took shots and it was ridiculous. Promptly proceeded from tipsy to drunk.
Went home.
Saturday morning met M & C in Myeongdong. I bought a new dress and a vest (hahahahahah PAIGEY) and they are both super cute (ESPECIALLY the dress, omg)
Went to the War Memorial for the Seoul Soul Festival. Was like 5 people away from Se7en and Taeyang and it was amazing (review in full coming later). Went to a chicken hof with the girls. The chicken hof place had the most amazing 모든감자튀김 (mixed french fries). There were regular crinkle cut fries, tater tots, sweet potato fries, waffle fries, onion rings, smiley face shaped fried potatoes, and the most awesomely delicious fried mashed potato dallops (there isn't a good way to explain them. Imagine mashed potatoes pushed through a frosting bag/tip to create a ridged mountain of fried mashed potato goodness). And the chicken was pretty good. But omg, the french fries. to die for.
Then we went to Hongdae and I got my tragus pierced. It didn't hurt very much then, and I hardly notice it now. Sometimes if I play with it, it tickles my ear, which is strange.
My league team won our Sunday game. I had mandoo and bulgogi with a friend for dinner. Things are looking up.
I finished my worksheets for this week already and there are no high school classes!!
NICE-UH.
xoxo
A
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Kitchen adventures
Since I've been around the house a lot the last few days, I've had a couple opportunities to mess around in the kitchen and attempt to make things. For those of you who do not know me, I really really really like cooking. I like baking desserts and cooking meals and thinking about cooking meals, and tweaking recipes, and all that jazz. It's just fun for me. Back at UF, the roomies and I had family dinners 3-4 times/week. Each of us would cook a meal for four (or more) once a week, and we'd share with each other. It was super efficient and enabled us to get a wide variety of foods, expand our personal recipe books and enjoy each others' company (which reminds me, to the old roomies: can someone send me the recipes for a) cheesy chicken, b) chili, c) chicken soup, and d) crepes? Kthanks)
Yesterday I made mac & cheese from the box. Nothin special there. I added too much butter and milk (you see, the butter here comes in bricks approximate 1 kg in weight, which is just over 2 lbs. It is difficult to guesstimate 4 tablespoons of butter. As for the milk, I don't have measuring cups here, and so I had to eyeball it. not a good idea) but it was tasty nonetheless.
Today I experimented with 도시락 or doshirak. Doshirak is like the Korean version of bento boxes. It is a Korean lunch box of sorts. The tendency these days is to make it a regular rounded meal of different food groups and such. But, the origin of doshirak is quite humble. Doshirak used to be stigmatized as the food of poor rural workers. Doshirak typically consisted only of rice and kimchi, often a fried egg added when money presents itself. If you order a doshirak at a restaurant that doesn't specialize in doshirak, this is pretty much exactly what you will get, a fried egg, some rice and kimchi. Not much, but it's pretty much the three staples of the korean diet. They have become more elaborate, but they remain largely the same, with a base of rice, a side of kimchi, usually an egg. these days, though, they often add some meat to make it more filling.
I tried to make a version of doshirak for myself. I diced up some garlic, and sliced some mushrooms. Sauteed them in a pan. Microwaved one hot dog, sliced. Prepped rice and fried up an egg. Mashed it all together, and there was my late lunch. It was pretty mediocre, I'm not gonna lie. It was wildly underseasoned, and desperately neeeded the kimchi it was lacking. The hot dogs were a great add, but the garlic overwhelmed the dish. If I make this again, which I probably will, I will 86 the garlic, keep the hot dog and toss in some kimchi to round it out. Also, I'll be more careful to season the egg while it's frying (something that I forgot all together).
I have made a particularly fantastic bulgogi doshirak before. I wish that was what I ate for lunch.
I'm thinking I'll make a meat sauce spaghetti tonight for dinner since I didn't last night. ^^
Anyways, tomorrow is D-day. Keep your fingers crossed, say a pray for me, light a candle for me, or do whatever it is you do to protect someone from its downfall. Thanks!
xoxo
A
Yesterday I made mac & cheese from the box. Nothin special there. I added too much butter and milk (you see, the butter here comes in bricks approximate 1 kg in weight, which is just over 2 lbs. It is difficult to guesstimate 4 tablespoons of butter. As for the milk, I don't have measuring cups here, and so I had to eyeball it. not a good idea) but it was tasty nonetheless.
Today I experimented with 도시락 or doshirak. Doshirak is like the Korean version of bento boxes. It is a Korean lunch box of sorts. The tendency these days is to make it a regular rounded meal of different food groups and such. But, the origin of doshirak is quite humble. Doshirak used to be stigmatized as the food of poor rural workers. Doshirak typically consisted only of rice and kimchi, often a fried egg added when money presents itself. If you order a doshirak at a restaurant that doesn't specialize in doshirak, this is pretty much exactly what you will get, a fried egg, some rice and kimchi. Not much, but it's pretty much the three staples of the korean diet. They have become more elaborate, but they remain largely the same, with a base of rice, a side of kimchi, usually an egg. these days, though, they often add some meat to make it more filling.
I tried to make a version of doshirak for myself. I diced up some garlic, and sliced some mushrooms. Sauteed them in a pan. Microwaved one hot dog, sliced. Prepped rice and fried up an egg. Mashed it all together, and there was my late lunch. It was pretty mediocre, I'm not gonna lie. It was wildly underseasoned, and desperately neeeded the kimchi it was lacking. The hot dogs were a great add, but the garlic overwhelmed the dish. If I make this again, which I probably will, I will 86 the garlic, keep the hot dog and toss in some kimchi to round it out. Also, I'll be more careful to season the egg while it's frying (something that I forgot all together).
I have made a particularly fantastic bulgogi doshirak before. I wish that was what I ate for lunch.
I'm thinking I'll make a meat sauce spaghetti tonight for dinner since I didn't last night. ^^
Anyways, tomorrow is D-day. Keep your fingers crossed, say a pray for me, light a candle for me, or do whatever it is you do to protect someone from its downfall. Thanks!
xoxo
A
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Chuseok Vacation part 3
I've rediscovered Saves the Day. That's what my vacation has become.
I went to E-Mart and bought the fixings for meat sauce spaghetti (with 한우!!!) as well as mac and cheese. That should keep me fed for a couple days.
I bought cakes for 부's family. I need to come up with a good English nickname for him. Anyways, I'm going to his grandmother's house on Thursday. I'm only moderately terrified, which is an improvement from utterly terrified which is how I felt when he initially asked me. You see, this is a big step, and I don't want to fuck it up by saying the wrong thing to his parents or grandparents or aunts and uncles and cousins while I'm there. They will all be judging me and not only do I have no idea what I'm going to say or do, I also have no idea what to wear, and no idea what they will think of me.
It's pouring outside. I'm listening to the Through Being Cool album. FML.
On the bright side, I found the oven I want to buy at E-Mart. It's bigger than all the others I've seen (but still maybe 1/4 the size of a regular american oven), and it's about 300 dollars. And I may have found the perfect first baked good on the Cupcakes Take the Cake blog:
Chocolate Chip cookie dough cupcakes with cookie dough inside and a cookie on top. HOLY HELL I MUST EAT THESE ASAP.
xoxo
A
I went to E-Mart and bought the fixings for meat sauce spaghetti (with 한우!!!) as well as mac and cheese. That should keep me fed for a couple days.
I bought cakes for 부's family. I need to come up with a good English nickname for him. Anyways, I'm going to his grandmother's house on Thursday. I'm only moderately terrified, which is an improvement from utterly terrified which is how I felt when he initially asked me. You see, this is a big step, and I don't want to fuck it up by saying the wrong thing to his parents or grandparents or aunts and uncles and cousins while I'm there. They will all be judging me and not only do I have no idea what I'm going to say or do, I also have no idea what to wear, and no idea what they will think of me.
It's pouring outside. I'm listening to the Through Being Cool album. FML.
On the bright side, I found the oven I want to buy at E-Mart. It's bigger than all the others I've seen (but still maybe 1/4 the size of a regular american oven), and it's about 300 dollars. And I may have found the perfect first baked good on the Cupcakes Take the Cake blog:
Chocolate Chip cookie dough cupcakes with cookie dough inside and a cookie on top. HOLY HELL I MUST EAT THESE ASAP.
xoxo
A
Sunday, July 18, 2010
A Day in the Life
Today really was awesome. I don't know how else to explain it.
Actually, my whole weekend has been awesome.
Friday I went to Hooter's for Miranda's birthday. I got my ears pierced. I sang the shit out of Taeyang's I need a girl (90점 on an all korean song the first time I sang it? hell yes). Saturday, woke up, went on a date. Snuck into a building. Lost everything and got it back. Played 20+ games of go-stop. Ate really really good spaghetti (even by American standards, it was good, and that's saying something here in Korea).
Today, I went to Seoul with four of my students. They are four of my best students at my school. Seriously, they love English, they love speaking English, they love practicing English, and it is students like them that make me want to teach forever. We went to 신촌 and ate lunch at a 고기부페 (meat buffet). We ate 삼겹살 (really thick bacon meat basically) and other meat and lots of soda and it was funny because you can't leave leftovers, but we took too many sides, and 재연, one of my students, put a bunch of the food back in the bowls, which you totally can't do and probably isn't very sanitary, but buffets generally aren't that sanitary anyways, so eff that. Then we went to red mango and had awesome yogurt and got the toppings for free, because 유진 had a coupon. Then we went looking for a sticker picture place and while looking stumbled across a HELLO KITTY CAFE. There is one in Hongdae, but in my opinion the Sinchon one is better. It's less pink, but has way better kitty accessories. It's more demure, I think. We took a detour there for coffee and more sweets (choco bread). Then, we found a sticker picture place and hurriedly took sticker pictures. They weren't the best pictures ever (Christi, Miranda and I got the best ever, hands down) but they turned out cute. The sticker picture place wasn't that good (the one at bupyeong has 반짝반짝 film, or bling bling film to coat the pictures) but it sufficed.
Then we went to 서대문 which is a historic site. It used to be a prison during the Japanese opression. They put political prisoners there and tortured/executed them. It was pretty depressing. The girls had to go there for summer homework and it was kind of near Sinchon (closer than, say, Incheon is) so I went with them. I think their parents were grateful because they didn't have to take them there. Then, we took the subway back.
I'm pretty exhausted now, but I'd definitely say it was well worth the time and exhaustion. The students were wonderful, the date was great in spite of the rain, I had a wonderful time singing and eating and playing with my friends.
The only downside is due to the rain on Friday/Saturday, I fell TWICE. Once going downstairs to Hooters (minor), and once when I was at home taking off my soaked shoes on Saturday (major fall). The fall on Saturday caused some minor hip/leg/ankle/wrist pain, but it's not so bad now, minus the bruise on my thigh). I'm so clumsy.
xoxoxoxoxo
A
Actually, my whole weekend has been awesome.
Friday I went to Hooter's for Miranda's birthday. I got my ears pierced. I sang the shit out of Taeyang's I need a girl (90점 on an all korean song the first time I sang it? hell yes). Saturday, woke up, went on a date. Snuck into a building. Lost everything and got it back. Played 20+ games of go-stop. Ate really really good spaghetti (even by American standards, it was good, and that's saying something here in Korea).
Today, I went to Seoul with four of my students. They are four of my best students at my school. Seriously, they love English, they love speaking English, they love practicing English, and it is students like them that make me want to teach forever. We went to 신촌 and ate lunch at a 고기부페 (meat buffet). We ate 삼겹살 (really thick bacon meat basically) and other meat and lots of soda and it was funny because you can't leave leftovers, but we took too many sides, and 재연, one of my students, put a bunch of the food back in the bowls, which you totally can't do and probably isn't very sanitary, but buffets generally aren't that sanitary anyways, so eff that. Then we went to red mango and had awesome yogurt and got the toppings for free, because 유진 had a coupon. Then we went looking for a sticker picture place and while looking stumbled across a HELLO KITTY CAFE. There is one in Hongdae, but in my opinion the Sinchon one is better. It's less pink, but has way better kitty accessories. It's more demure, I think. We took a detour there for coffee and more sweets (choco bread). Then, we found a sticker picture place and hurriedly took sticker pictures. They weren't the best pictures ever (Christi, Miranda and I got the best ever, hands down) but they turned out cute. The sticker picture place wasn't that good (the one at bupyeong has 반짝반짝 film, or bling bling film to coat the pictures) but it sufficed.
Then we went to 서대문 which is a historic site. It used to be a prison during the Japanese opression. They put political prisoners there and tortured/executed them. It was pretty depressing. The girls had to go there for summer homework and it was kind of near Sinchon (closer than, say, Incheon is) so I went with them. I think their parents were grateful because they didn't have to take them there. Then, we took the subway back.
I'm pretty exhausted now, but I'd definitely say it was well worth the time and exhaustion. The students were wonderful, the date was great in spite of the rain, I had a wonderful time singing and eating and playing with my friends.
The only downside is due to the rain on Friday/Saturday, I fell TWICE. Once going downstairs to Hooters (minor), and once when I was at home taking off my soaked shoes on Saturday (major fall). The fall on Saturday caused some minor hip/leg/ankle/wrist pain, but it's not so bad now, minus the bruise on my thigh). I'm so clumsy.
xoxoxoxoxo
A
Saturday, May 15, 2010
Melina's Visit Pt. 1
Melina came and while she was only actually in Incheon/Seoul for a mere 4.5 days, it enabled me to get to see some of the touristy sites in the beauty of spring, which certainly was nice. The weather has been positively glorious and sunny and warm and breezy. Perfect, imho.
Anyways, I'll start with some funny pictures from our trip into Bupyeong for kalbi dinner with Stephen. Stephen, being the douche-y friend he is tried to (awkwardly) talk to the waiter on my behalf (he was cute, but only 19 years old). It was horrifying. After dinner, we went to the weirdest makgeoli place (막걸리집) ever. Typically these places are rather traditional looking-- dimly lit with lots of wood and quiet traditional music and seating on the floor and stuff. This place, on the other hand, had disco balls, a dj and blaring Korean music. Plus, you could write on the walls. Which, of course we did.
Anyways, I'll start with some funny pictures from our trip into Bupyeong for kalbi dinner with Stephen. Stephen, being the douche-y friend he is tried to (awkwardly) talk to the waiter on my behalf (he was cute, but only 19 years old). It was horrifying. After dinner, we went to the weirdest makgeoli place (막걸리집) ever. Typically these places are rather traditional looking-- dimly lit with lots of wood and quiet traditional music and seating on the floor and stuff. This place, on the other hand, had disco balls, a dj and blaring Korean music. Plus, you could write on the walls. Which, of course we did.
Melina had this problem where she got drunk and dropped like 15 chopsticks. Also, we bought 떡 at Sinpo Marker (신포시장) and it was filled with black bean paste. Too much black bean paste.
Melina, Allison + Stephen 4E. Also I really do <3 Young-Bae a lot. And a funny pic of Melina and Stephen.
I actually effing hate Stephen. I can't stand him.
Our websites, plus dumbfoundead. I rep hard for DFD these days. Also, tryin' to promote my site, you know, get my readership up.
Anyways. The next day, Saturday, we did a lot of things, but I'll save that for my next post, tomorrow morning. Now, I'm effing exhausted. Funny how Mon-Thursday of 12+ hour work days (if you count korean class as work) plus a 9 hour day Friday will wear you out thoroughly.
Word.
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Things just started to look a little bit brighter
Today I received in the mail some new things I purchased from YesAsia which was really exciting. They were shipped (from Hong Kong) like 2 and a half weeks ago, and I started to get nervous that they would never turn up at my school. But today my co-teacher Oh Yoon Kyung came to my office with a big black package containing the following wonderful items:
Epik High's Album/Book, [e] It is a two disc album and also contains a book written by the members of Epik High, Tablo, Mithra, and DJ Tukutz. Most of the book is in Korean, but I'll consider it good practice for my language learning. Also, Dumbfoundead is featured on a song, and he's like my favorite person ever.
Big Bang's Goodbye 2009 photo album: over 100 pages of photos of my beloved BigBang boys. Heavy emphasis on G-Dragon, which is fine with me. Also, omg, I'm falling in love with T.O.P. a little bit. This photo album also came with a key chain/phone charm mini photo album which I've already added to my phone. *^___^*
Big Bang's 2008 Global Warning Tour AND Taeyang's first solo concert Hot DVD: I borrowed this from my co-teacher and it was so amazing that I had to purchase it myself.
These three things compile the second best thing I've ever spent 100 dollars on.
The single best thing I've spent 100 dollars on is something I haven't even done yet. hahaha. But, I've spent the money. On Thursday, April 1st, I am going to see Brian McKnight (yes, that guy that sings Back at One and Anytime) perform at Jamsil Gymnasium in Seoul. Why this is so amazing (and worth 100 dollars) is because Miranda, Hyun-sun (my co-teacher), and I score front row tickets AND Taeyang (the love of my freaking life) will be there to open the concert. I am making a sign that says, "Young-Bae I love you!!!" in Korean and English. I'm so effing excited I can hardly contain myself. I think this concert will mark the start of the best birthday month I've ever had!!!!! *^________^*
Also, I went out with some friends for dinner. Had a pecan waffle for dessert. DELISH.
Also also, been working out at the gym. It's freaking awesome. It's amazing wha a couple good workouts can do for you.
Oh, and did I mention that I had this dumb online class that I had to complete by midnight tonight and I forgot about it/couldn't access it until 11 p.m. and I still managed to complete 10 lessons and a final test in just under an hour. I literally submitted my answers at 12 midnight. JACKPOT.
So it's way late and I should be in bed.
Epik High's Album/Book, [e] It is a two disc album and also contains a book written by the members of Epik High, Tablo, Mithra, and DJ Tukutz. Most of the book is in Korean, but I'll consider it good practice for my language learning. Also, Dumbfoundead is featured on a song, and he's like my favorite person ever.
Big Bang's Goodbye 2009 photo album: over 100 pages of photos of my beloved BigBang boys. Heavy emphasis on G-Dragon, which is fine with me. Also, omg, I'm falling in love with T.O.P. a little bit. This photo album also came with a key chain/phone charm mini photo album which I've already added to my phone. *^___^*
Big Bang's 2008 Global Warning Tour AND Taeyang's first solo concert Hot DVD: I borrowed this from my co-teacher and it was so amazing that I had to purchase it myself.
These three things compile the second best thing I've ever spent 100 dollars on.
The single best thing I've spent 100 dollars on is something I haven't even done yet. hahaha. But, I've spent the money. On Thursday, April 1st, I am going to see Brian McKnight (yes, that guy that sings Back at One and Anytime) perform at Jamsil Gymnasium in Seoul. Why this is so amazing (and worth 100 dollars) is because Miranda, Hyun-sun (my co-teacher), and I score front row tickets AND Taeyang (the love of my freaking life) will be there to open the concert. I am making a sign that says, "Young-Bae I love you!!!" in Korean and English. I'm so effing excited I can hardly contain myself. I think this concert will mark the start of the best birthday month I've ever had!!!!! *^________^*
Also, I went out with some friends for dinner. Had a pecan waffle for dessert. DELISH.
Also also, been working out at the gym. It's freaking awesome. It's amazing wha a couple good workouts can do for you.
Oh, and did I mention that I had this dumb online class that I had to complete by midnight tonight and I forgot about it/couldn't access it until 11 p.m. and I still managed to complete 10 lessons and a final test in just under an hour. I literally submitted my answers at 12 midnight. JACKPOT.
So it's way late and I should be in bed.
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Winter part 2
It's snowing. In the middle of freaking March.
Also, today I promised 7 of my best grade three students that I would go with them to RedMango in Seoul over Summer Vacation. Can I get in trouble for that? I am not buying their yogurt, and they are not buying mine. They had never heard of it, and I was shocked BECAUSE IT'S KOREAN. And, it's in the U.S. Buuuuut, there are no locations in Incheon (we checked) so I said I'd take them to the closest Seoul location.
That's it.
Hooray snow!
Also, today I promised 7 of my best grade three students that I would go with them to RedMango in Seoul over Summer Vacation. Can I get in trouble for that? I am not buying their yogurt, and they are not buying mine. They had never heard of it, and I was shocked BECAUSE IT'S KOREAN. And, it's in the U.S. Buuuuut, there are no locations in Incheon (we checked) so I said I'd take them to the closest Seoul location.
That's it.
Hooray snow!
Monday, November 16, 2009
Rescued.
I was sure that today was going to be a disaster from the moment I stepped foot inside my school, but things were salvaged nicely.
It was very cold this morning (25 degrees when I woke up, getting as warm as 36-38 or so by midday), and I was excited to wear my winter coat for the first time. I had a cute outfit, and even had time to do my hair and put on make-up, so I was feeling good. Got McDonalds for breakfast which is bad for me, but so delicious for my tummy. It was terrible walking there and to school, but I managed it.
However, I've been stressing for a couple days because one of my co-teachers gave me her flash drive so I could put the video and a copy of the picture of the girls with Mike on it (she was in charge of organizing our group). I had put the photo and video on the flash drive a while ago when she first gave it to me (the week before Halloween), but somehow I had misplaced it and couldn't find it. I hadn't told her and I she had asked me for it on Friday and I was planning to do a last sweep of my apartment for it before I told her I had lost it. So I have been stressing hard about that, because it's so irresponsible of me, and I was really disappointed and felt pretty bad about it.
Then, I get into school and run into my main co-teacher from whom I usually pick up the key to the English zone where my office and classroom are, but she said to me, you have the key right? You didn't drop it off on Friday. Naturally, I didn't have the key, and moreover, I had no idea where the key was (usually when I take it home, I put it on my keychain, but it wasn't there), so I was pretty much 0-2 on the day, and it was only 8:30 a.m. She went to look for a spare key while I scowered my purse for the key.
While looking for the key, however, I pulled out my spare balloon from Dream Concert and bundled up in it was none other than my co-teacher's flash drive that I had thought I lost. In truth I had put it where i meant to, but it had gotten wrapped up by the balloon so I hadn't noticed it before. This meant that I was only missing one important thing (the key to my classroom) instead of just one thing.
I was still really stressed about the key because I'm not supposed to take it home, and my co-teacher can get in trouble for letting me take it home and then I lost it, and so I was really nervous about where it was in my apartment, if it was in my apartment.
However, my day was all uphill from there, including ddeokbokki for lunch (omg, so delicious, my favorite), and two awesome notes from my students Yu Eun-bin (or, as she asked to be called, Movie Star Eun-bin) and Jaeyeong, or Rachel, which is her English name. The note Eun-bin
wrote me had pictures drawn of me and her and it was SO CUTE. There is one picture of me in my signature headband (I wear a headband almost every day) with a voice bubble saying "Teacher like~ spaghetti, orange color, spring, hip-hop music, April 29th (teacher's birthday), and Eun-bin" And then she drew a picture of me listening to my ipod (which I often do during my planning time) and then another that is supposed to be a polaroid of us together. I'm wearing my North Face Fleece (which I had been wearing a LOT the last few weeks) and her in the school uniform, and both of us tossing up peace signs and under my picture is says "tall~^_^" and under hers it says short T_T and it was SO PRECIOUS.
Then, after school I got home and discovered that I had the classroom key in my apartment, in the pocket of the pants i wore on Friday. What a relief!
Then went to On The Map with a big group and had a bacon cheeseburger and potato chips and then went to a waffle and ice cream place that was SO DELICIOUS and then went to Juan underground and bought cozy socks, and now here I am, in a cozily heated apartment, listening to my jams and responding to the notes I got today. It turned out SO PERFECT today. *^___^*
These things single-handedly solved all the problems I was having this morning. Yay!
xoxo,
A
It was very cold this morning (25 degrees when I woke up, getting as warm as 36-38 or so by midday), and I was excited to wear my winter coat for the first time. I had a cute outfit, and even had time to do my hair and put on make-up, so I was feeling good. Got McDonalds for breakfast which is bad for me, but so delicious for my tummy. It was terrible walking there and to school, but I managed it.
However, I've been stressing for a couple days because one of my co-teachers gave me her flash drive so I could put the video and a copy of the picture of the girls with Mike on it (she was in charge of organizing our group). I had put the photo and video on the flash drive a while ago when she first gave it to me (the week before Halloween), but somehow I had misplaced it and couldn't find it. I hadn't told her and I she had asked me for it on Friday and I was planning to do a last sweep of my apartment for it before I told her I had lost it. So I have been stressing hard about that, because it's so irresponsible of me, and I was really disappointed and felt pretty bad about it.
Then, I get into school and run into my main co-teacher from whom I usually pick up the key to the English zone where my office and classroom are, but she said to me, you have the key right? You didn't drop it off on Friday. Naturally, I didn't have the key, and moreover, I had no idea where the key was (usually when I take it home, I put it on my keychain, but it wasn't there), so I was pretty much 0-2 on the day, and it was only 8:30 a.m. She went to look for a spare key while I scowered my purse for the key.
While looking for the key, however, I pulled out my spare balloon from Dream Concert and bundled up in it was none other than my co-teacher's flash drive that I had thought I lost. In truth I had put it where i meant to, but it had gotten wrapped up by the balloon so I hadn't noticed it before. This meant that I was only missing one important thing (the key to my classroom) instead of just one thing.
I was still really stressed about the key because I'm not supposed to take it home, and my co-teacher can get in trouble for letting me take it home and then I lost it, and so I was really nervous about where it was in my apartment, if it was in my apartment.
However, my day was all uphill from there, including ddeokbokki for lunch (omg, so delicious, my favorite), and two awesome notes from my students Yu Eun-bin (or, as she asked to be called, Movie Star Eun-bin) and Jaeyeong, or Rachel, which is her English name. The note Eun-bin
wrote me had pictures drawn of me and her and it was SO CUTE. There is one picture of me in my signature headband (I wear a headband almost every day) with a voice bubble saying "Teacher like~ spaghetti, orange color, spring, hip-hop music, April 29th (teacher's birthday), and Eun-bin" And then she drew a picture of me listening to my ipod (which I often do during my planning time) and then another that is supposed to be a polaroid of us together. I'm wearing my North Face Fleece (which I had been wearing a LOT the last few weeks) and her in the school uniform, and both of us tossing up peace signs and under my picture is says "tall~^_^" and under hers it says short T_T and it was SO PRECIOUS.Then, after school I got home and discovered that I had the classroom key in my apartment, in the pocket of the pants i wore on Friday. What a relief!
Then went to On The Map with a big group and had a bacon cheeseburger and potato chips and then went to a waffle and ice cream place that was SO DELICIOUS and then went to Juan underground and bought cozy socks, and now here I am, in a cozily heated apartment, listening to my jams and responding to the notes I got today. It turned out SO PERFECT today. *^___^*
These things single-handedly solved all the problems I was having this morning. Yay!
A
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Picnic Day. NOT.
So Friday was picnic day. This means that in lieu of classes, all the students and teachers go to have a picnic somewhere. Some of the students went to Incheon Park and some of them went to New Songdo City, a really fancy economic zone being built in southern Incheon.
Which one did I go to? How much fun was it? How was the weather?
Unfortunately I cannot answer these questions because I was not allowed to go to Picnic day. Instead, I went to school, where there were 3 other employees (not teachers, just staff), and the 7 students who are participating in the song/dance performance at the English Festival on October 28th. Yes, that's right, I missed out on a day of fresh air and sunshine so that I could practice a song and dance for 5 hours.
So it really wasn't that bad. It was actually kind of fun. I finally started to get the dance (although the performance is tomorrow and I haven't practiced since Friday), and practicing was interspersed with HEAVY snacking, which is always right up my alley. Chocolate mallomar type cookies (SO DELICIOUS). Then lunch of jajjangmyeon (Korean-Chinese noodle dish with black bean sauce) and mandu (dumplings), then apples and juice, then McDonalds snackwraps and french fries. Plus, the girls that I practice with are so so wonderful and good and fun, so in the end it really isn't so bad. ^^
Hopefully I will be able to have a coteacher take video/pictures of the song/dance at the festival tomorrow so the whole world can see me with my dancing shoes on. haha. It's not going to be pretty. Of that I can assure you. But it will be funny.
Which one did I go to? How much fun was it? How was the weather?
Unfortunately I cannot answer these questions because I was not allowed to go to Picnic day. Instead, I went to school, where there were 3 other employees (not teachers, just staff), and the 7 students who are participating in the song/dance performance at the English Festival on October 28th. Yes, that's right, I missed out on a day of fresh air and sunshine so that I could practice a song and dance for 5 hours.
So it really wasn't that bad. It was actually kind of fun. I finally started to get the dance (although the performance is tomorrow and I haven't practiced since Friday), and practicing was interspersed with HEAVY snacking, which is always right up my alley. Chocolate mallomar type cookies (SO DELICIOUS). Then lunch of jajjangmyeon (Korean-Chinese noodle dish with black bean sauce) and mandu (dumplings), then apples and juice, then McDonalds snackwraps and french fries. Plus, the girls that I practice with are so so wonderful and good and fun, so in the end it really isn't so bad. ^^
Hopefully I will be able to have a coteacher take video/pictures of the song/dance at the festival tomorrow so the whole world can see me with my dancing shoes on. haha. It's not going to be pretty. Of that I can assure you. But it will be funny.
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