Hmm, I'm at home, eating home food, reading, sleeping, surfing on the Internet and chatting with my family! What is it that I should be doing right now?
Oh right, being more productive with my free time.
Ever since coming home for break I've been teetering on that slippery slope between chilling and being a little too lazy, and now with about five days left of my time here, perhaps I should start being a little more productive again.
This is hardly a New Year's resolution (hell, it's still 2011), but some things I do need to do this break, not in any particular order of significance, is...
1) Play more Skyward Sword
It's my first attempt at seriously playing a video game (which was one of my leisurely goals for a while), and I've left it alone for like four or five days now. Yes, I probably won't be able to finish it before break's over and I can continue playing in the summer, but I would still like to get past that goddamn spider in the dungeon and at least finish the first boss.
I even planned to do a blog post (that about two people will read) about it! I must save the post from being forever buried in the "saved" archives.
2) Greet friends for the New Year
I was simultaneously too lazy and too occupied (yes, this is possible) to greet everyone a Happy Holidays, and I feel horrible for skimping out on Fumiko's birthday save for a Facebook wall post when she still mails me presents for my birthday like clockwork. I haven't e-mailed Minju in a while either. To rectify this, I must wish my friends a Happy New Year.
3) GRE
Well, that's one thing I've actually been doing, thankfully. I still must remind myself to finish the book before I hop on the plane like I planned.
4) Finish The Solitaire Mystery, and maybe re-read Sophie's World while you're at it
I've been re-reading The Solitaire Mystery and I am loving it. It's actually been a while that I've forgotten much of the details of the book, so it's almost like reading a new book. Almost. It'd be fun re-reading Sophie's World too, now that I'm a college senior and would probably comprehend the book much better than when I was in high school.
I do enjoy Jostein Gaarder's books.
5) Make the blog more interesting
The question is, how?
I couldn't help but notice that my blog posts became less of "funny stuff that happened that I record" and more of "let me ramble without a goal or purpose for five whole pages"
I still don't know who checks my blogs and if they still do anymore (I mean I haven't updated, and I disabled the comments section. HMM WAIT A MINUTE-). But I do want to continue the blog and make interesting posts for myself and others.
I think the whole thing has to do with how I really don't go out much in general. There's only so much I can write about on stuff I think about, and nothing really happens when you wake up, wash, go to class, eat, do homework and sleep.
And kendo. But I feel too self-conscious to write about my physical and mental development and inner growth and all that. IT SOUNDS SO CHEESY AAAAAH. And other than that, the only thing I can do is just list what I've learned and who I sparred against ("Dear Diary, today Watanabe sensei taught us how to do such-and-such moves, and I did jigeiko against Mike and Brian. Antai doesn't really count because he just lets me hit his head over and over again until I am sufficiently speedy and in good form. Like always.").
Somehow I seem to lose the ability to write in an entertaining manner as I grow older. Or is it that I've become a stuffy and boring adult? Gasp!
Edit: I have decided to leave comments un-disabled! Or should I say activated? abled? Switched on? Turned on? (that doesn't sound right)
No one is obligated to comment, of course. But maybe, just MAYBE, if anyone writes something, it might be an incentive to update regularly. MAYBE.
Thursday, December 29, 2011
Friday, November 25, 2011
Lost and Found
Did you ever have something you really liked when you were much, much younger,like a favorite toy or book or movie, and after a while, parted with it and never saw it again?
Did you then, after a good number of years, when you least expected it, reunited with the said object of your obsessions?
It's happened to me with a number of objects: I was able to buy the Sonic Collection CD (Sonic 3 and Knuckles on PC) after pining for it for a year, I was able to buy a good number of books that I have enjoyed many years back in the library as a child, and with the recent progression in technology, I had been able to re-watch some of my childhood TV shows on Youtube.
And this is such a cheesy buildup to what I was going to say, but this feeling applies to people too.
Recently I have found my childhood friend after 12 years. And not just any friend - she was, quoting my nine-year-old self, "the bestest friend in the whole world" in my elementary school years.
We were pretty much inseparable during those two and a half years - we were always up for adventure and had relatively similar interests. I saw her as spontaneous, fun, and cool.
She could come up with the most wacky and fun things to do, such as making paper ties and selling them at her parents' company barbecue party (we never got to), having a secret hideout under pine trees, and performing a magic show, the list goes on.
When it was decided that my family was moving to Beijing, I was hanging out with her and I remember looking at her face long and hard as she was mindlessly gazing out into the distance; I was trying to keep her face forever in my memory. I wondered, am I ever going to see her again? Will this be my last time seeing her? How can I live without my bestest friend in the world?
This being a time before Internet and e-mail (it wasn't that they didn't exist, just that only the computer-savvier families had them at that point, and my family didn't have Internet yet), I had no way to contact her after I left. And I missed her so. I missed her in Beijing. I missed her in Korea. I might even add that thinking about her was one of the things that kept me sane during the rougher times in my Korean school.
But you get the point.
And suddenly, out of nowhere, I find her on Facebook and we actually exchanged e-mails. Asides from a year in a Korean middle school, she had stayed in Shanghai till the end of high school. She told me more about her life, I told her more about mine. But most importantly, she missed me too.
I don't know, it's an amazing feeling. Over the years I had kind of given up on the fact that I'd ever hear from her again. As more time went on I thought it would just remain a sweet memory from an earlier part of my life. I didn't think we'd actually find each other again.
So yeah.
Did you then, after a good number of years, when you least expected it, reunited with the said object of your obsessions?
It's happened to me with a number of objects: I was able to buy the Sonic Collection CD (Sonic 3 and Knuckles on PC) after pining for it for a year, I was able to buy a good number of books that I have enjoyed many years back in the library as a child, and with the recent progression in technology, I had been able to re-watch some of my childhood TV shows on Youtube.
And this is such a cheesy buildup to what I was going to say, but this feeling applies to people too.
Recently I have found my childhood friend after 12 years. And not just any friend - she was, quoting my nine-year-old self, "the bestest friend in the whole world" in my elementary school years.
We were pretty much inseparable during those two and a half years - we were always up for adventure and had relatively similar interests. I saw her as spontaneous, fun, and cool.
She could come up with the most wacky and fun things to do, such as making paper ties and selling them at her parents' company barbecue party (we never got to), having a secret hideout under pine trees, and performing a magic show, the list goes on.
When it was decided that my family was moving to Beijing, I was hanging out with her and I remember looking at her face long and hard as she was mindlessly gazing out into the distance; I was trying to keep her face forever in my memory. I wondered, am I ever going to see her again? Will this be my last time seeing her? How can I live without my bestest friend in the world?
This being a time before Internet and e-mail (it wasn't that they didn't exist, just that only the computer-savvier families had them at that point, and my family didn't have Internet yet), I had no way to contact her after I left. And I missed her so. I missed her in Beijing. I missed her in Korea. I might even add that thinking about her was one of the things that kept me sane during the rougher times in my Korean school.
But you get the point.
And suddenly, out of nowhere, I find her on Facebook and we actually exchanged e-mails. Asides from a year in a Korean middle school, she had stayed in Shanghai till the end of high school. She told me more about her life, I told her more about mine. But most importantly, she missed me too.
I don't know, it's an amazing feeling. Over the years I had kind of given up on the fact that I'd ever hear from her again. As more time went on I thought it would just remain a sweet memory from an earlier part of my life. I didn't think we'd actually find each other again.
So yeah.
Saturday, November 5, 2011
Wisconsin Kendo Tournament
I wanted to write a post about the Wisconsin Kendo tournament, but somehow, I didn't really feel up to writing one entire post about it, I'm bound to talk far too long. So a short blurb it is.
To sum it up, the tournament went well for me personally. I won two matches, and I passed the 1-kyu promotion exam (while still messing up on a lot of stuff. I'm guessing the judges were generous enough to chalk everything up as nervousness). While I was up against people of similar rank when I beat them, it was the first time that I felt that I could get into the arena and feel that I possibly had a chance against someone at all. I could feel a difference in fighting compared to the past tournaments.
I also really enjoyed my final match against the Detroit team.I really don't want to sound like bragging but I had gotten two points for our team, and also won my individual match. Funnily enough, I actually don't remember much of the match - everything was a blur of adrenaline, kiai, and the red and white flags of the judges going up when my opponent and I scored points. People commented that the match was "beastly" - and I felt it, too. I could safely say that this was the most that I had ever put into a match. When I fight, I say that I put my 100%, but wondered if I really did afterwards; for this match, I felt that I actually had put everything on the line.
After struggling with kendo for so long and feeling like crap every time a member advances in rank while I stay the same, I feel that finally, I have seen a little bump in my skill level. I had never been athletic, and I know that in sports, it always takes years for me to achieve what others do in months. But it feels great to finally feel a little more competent.
To sum it up, the tournament went well for me personally. I won two matches, and I passed the 1-kyu promotion exam (while still messing up on a lot of stuff. I'm guessing the judges were generous enough to chalk everything up as nervousness). While I was up against people of similar rank when I beat them, it was the first time that I felt that I could get into the arena and feel that I possibly had a chance against someone at all. I could feel a difference in fighting compared to the past tournaments.
I also really enjoyed my final match against the Detroit team.
After struggling with kendo for so long and feeling like crap every time a member advances in rank while I stay the same, I feel that finally, I have seen a little bump in my skill level. I had never been athletic, and I know that in sports, it always takes years for me to achieve what others do in months. But it feels great to finally feel a little more competent.
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Aches and pains
I really wish I wrote more often, but 1) I can't find the time, or 2) I don't know what to write about. I'm not a particularly great storyteller, you see.
But what the hell, I decided I should write SOMETHING. The title of the blog has the word "babbles" in it, for crying out loud. I don't have to write flowery prose to keep my blog alive.
Maybe it's because it's senior year, or maybe it's because I'm suscpetible to extreme amounts of stress to the point that I make my hormones sabotage my body, but I've been going through more aches and pains than I ever have in my life. I think I've set a new personal record on this thing.
Symptoms have usually included:
1) Cold symptoms
I don't have a cold anymore since the "Back-to-school-everyone-is-sick" season is over, but I do run across mild symptoms frequently, such as blocked nasal cavity, runny eyes (and nose), or a parched throat that only a gallon of orange juice can quench.
2) Pain in the back of my head
AKA "뒷골 댕긴다" in Korean (how many of my blog readers know Korean? Anybody?)
It's the persistent pain in the area where your head ends and the neck begins. I'm not sure about other cultures, but it's a very common somatic symptom among Koreans under extreme stress (and I have also discovered, lack of sleep).
Sometimes old people temporarily faint from too much pain in the back of their heads when they receive shocking news or rage too much, according to word of mouth and K-dramas. Hopefully I don't keel over like that any time soon.
3) Digestive problems
Usually involves eating something wrong (I don't know how) and feeling nauseous for the rest of the day. It is most irritating when you feel like throwing up the entire day but you never do.
4) Sleep paralysis
The most annoying (and creepy) out of my aches and pains, this happens my sleep cycle is destroyed.
First, I feel a strange ringing vibration at the back of my skull, and then I feel as if I'm floating on air. I know that I'm not actually floating, but the sensation feels so very real, you almost swear that you are floating in reality.
Apparently, when you're in sleep paralysis, your mind is conscious but your brain is in REM mode, which creates this hyper-realistic feeling. And it's true; even though I know I'm dreaming, everything seems so real. I can see my room clearly as if I was physically awake. I can touch my pillow or blanket, for example, and I'd feel the smoothness of the fabric just like in reality.
This is why it really sucks when the hallucinations begin. Sometimes I hear things, sometimes I see things. Sometimes it's both. And most of the time, they're creepy situations, like I'm in the scene of a horror movie. Here are some "dreams" I've experienced during sleep paralysis:
-A long-haired ghost charged towards me screaming, I hid my head under the pillow, ghost started wailing and scratched the pillow with her long fingernails.
-Sound of somebody incessantly laughing
-A creepy little girl standing at the side of my bed saying, "Play with me. Play with me. Why won't you play with me? Play with me. PLAY WITH ME! PLAY WITH MEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!! *SCREEEEEEEEEEEEECH*!"
-My grandmother just standing in front of me, incessantly laughing in an uncanny manner.
-Sound of screaming from next door, as if someone was being murdered.
-White lab rats the size of chihuahuas screeching and snarling at each other.
-Two girl ghosts playing next to me, when a third one appears and asks, "What are you doing?" The two girls reply, "We're watching this girl next to us sleep."
-Strangers breaking into our apartment.
-Sound of people talking, faster and faster, louder and louder.
Imagine if all this happening to you while you were in bed, and that it felt very, very real.
The worst part of it is that it's "sleep PARALYSIS", and therefore, when I try to escape this situation, I can't move my goddamn body. I can't even scream. I scream as hard as I can and no sound comes out save for a pathetic, hoarse whisper. It is the worst feeling.
The key to breaking this is to wiggle your fingers, and make an extra effort to sit up and wake up. What makes this extra sucky is that if you wake up and just go to bed straight afterwards, the paralysis begin again. You have to sit up for a good long while, or even stand up, until you calm down and go back to bed. It's even more difficult since you feel extremely sleepy after you wake up from a sleep paralysis.
So in summary, I'm not feeling very well this semester. Yaaaaay.
But what the hell, I decided I should write SOMETHING. The title of the blog has the word "babbles" in it, for crying out loud. I don't have to write flowery prose to keep my blog alive.
Maybe it's because it's senior year, or maybe it's because I'm suscpetible to extreme amounts of stress to the point that I make my hormones sabotage my body, but I've been going through more aches and pains than I ever have in my life. I think I've set a new personal record on this thing.
Symptoms have usually included:
1) Cold symptoms
I don't have a cold anymore since the "Back-to-school-everyone-is-sick" season is over, but I do run across mild symptoms frequently, such as blocked nasal cavity, runny eyes (and nose), or a parched throat that only a gallon of orange juice can quench.
2) Pain in the back of my head
AKA "뒷골 댕긴다" in Korean (how many of my blog readers know Korean? Anybody?)
It's the persistent pain in the area where your head ends and the neck begins. I'm not sure about other cultures, but it's a very common somatic symptom among Koreans under extreme stress (and I have also discovered, lack of sleep).
Sometimes old people temporarily faint from too much pain in the back of their heads when they receive shocking news or rage too much, according to word of mouth and K-dramas. Hopefully I don't keel over like that any time soon.
3) Digestive problems
Usually involves eating something wrong (I don't know how) and feeling nauseous for the rest of the day. It is most irritating when you feel like throwing up the entire day but you never do.
4) Sleep paralysis
The most annoying (and creepy) out of my aches and pains, this happens my sleep cycle is destroyed.
First, I feel a strange ringing vibration at the back of my skull, and then I feel as if I'm floating on air. I know that I'm not actually floating, but the sensation feels so very real, you almost swear that you are floating in reality.
Apparently, when you're in sleep paralysis, your mind is conscious but your brain is in REM mode, which creates this hyper-realistic feeling. And it's true; even though I know I'm dreaming, everything seems so real. I can see my room clearly as if I was physically awake. I can touch my pillow or blanket, for example, and I'd feel the smoothness of the fabric just like in reality.
This is why it really sucks when the hallucinations begin. Sometimes I hear things, sometimes I see things. Sometimes it's both. And most of the time, they're creepy situations, like I'm in the scene of a horror movie. Here are some "dreams" I've experienced during sleep paralysis:
-A long-haired ghost charged towards me screaming, I hid my head under the pillow, ghost started wailing and scratched the pillow with her long fingernails.
-Sound of somebody incessantly laughing
-A creepy little girl standing at the side of my bed saying, "Play with me. Play with me. Why won't you play with me? Play with me. PLAY WITH ME! PLAY WITH MEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!! *SCREEEEEEEEEEEEECH*!"
-My grandmother just standing in front of me, incessantly laughing in an uncanny manner.
-Sound of screaming from next door, as if someone was being murdered.
-White lab rats the size of chihuahuas screeching and snarling at each other.
-Two girl ghosts playing next to me, when a third one appears and asks, "What are you doing?" The two girls reply, "We're watching this girl next to us sleep."
-Strangers breaking into our apartment.
-Sound of people talking, faster and faster, louder and louder.
Imagine if all this happening to you while you were in bed, and that it felt very, very real.
The worst part of it is that it's "sleep PARALYSIS", and therefore, when I try to escape this situation, I can't move my goddamn body. I can't even scream. I scream as hard as I can and no sound comes out save for a pathetic, hoarse whisper. It is the worst feeling.
The key to breaking this is to wiggle your fingers, and make an extra effort to sit up and wake up. What makes this extra sucky is that if you wake up and just go to bed straight afterwards, the paralysis begin again. You have to sit up for a good long while, or even stand up, until you calm down and go back to bed. It's even more difficult since you feel extremely sleepy after you wake up from a sleep paralysis.
So in summary, I'm not feeling very well this semester. Yaaaaay.
Monday, October 3, 2011
September Highlights (REVISED)
It's a bit late considering I'm writing this at the beginning of October, but that's how it will be.
I meant to write entries for September, but somehow I never found my chance, and before I knew it, the entire month had gone by. So here are mini-entries about what happened in September and subsequent feelings of it.
1. Senior year, and class adding/dropping.
You'd think that there would be no more hassles with classes when you've become a college senior. But the first few weeks were absolutely chaotic.
First, a Korean literature class I was to take had been cancelled. It's not even a section cancellation; the ENTIRE CLASS was gone, poof, and I was told to drop it from Wolverine Access. To fill up my credit hours, I needed to find a new class (which I did).
Secondly, I was waitlisted on a psychology class on children's literature. At the same time, I was enrolled for a developmental psych class. As luck would have it, the first day of the waitlisted class was full of whimsy and rainbow and unicorns, while the other class showed an ominous start, with an absentminded professor who did nothing but brag about her rich in-laws for thirty minutes before dismissing us. (I later found out that the professor had abysmal reviews on ratemyprofessors. com. Oh shit.) Luckily, I got into the chidren's lit class, so I was able to drop the other class. THANK YOU, GOD OF COLLEGE CLASSES, THANK YOU.
2. 3rd Hunt Lounge has relocated
Not the actual lounge, but the people who commonly inhabited it - Andrew, Michelle, Steffie, Jordan, and Ben - had moved into one house, which happens to be the second floor of the house that Robert, Feiqi and co are living in. So now people are kind of living like one big chaotic family in one house (except me). I must say, the upper floor has a much cleaner and nicer arrangements. I expect to visit and study there often.
3. Tiger and Bunny ends
Tiger and Bunny, the anime series that Isold my soul to have come to love very much, has ended. I wouldn't say the show is perfect - there were many elements that the show alluded to but never showed, and several characters have eventually been brushed off to the sideline at the expense of a plot that later dragged much longer than needed to be.
(The "manual" books that the studio publishes aren't making things any better. Nathan had a sad backstory? Ivan looks up to Keith a lot? Nathan and Antonio have a more mature relationship than Antonio does with Kotetsu? Pao-lin and her manager/guardian get along well? SHOW US THESE THINGS IN THE SHOW, DAMMIT, STOP TELLING US ALL THIS IN A BOOK AFTER THE SHOW IS OVER!)
But all in all, I still loved the heck out of the series and would still gladly reccomend it to others. The character development of the two main leads were very well written; it was like seeing two real people react to real situations. And more importantly, you UNDERSTOOD why they acted the way they did and felt for them throughout the series. Not to mention that the premise of corporate-sponsored superheroes is really interesting.
So it was great fun watching the series.
4. Avenue Q
(I forgot to add this in last night! How could I forget this one?)
Through the LSA Honors, Robert, Andrew and I procured tickets for Avenue Q at just $5 (about 22% off original ticket price) and watched the show at the Mendelsohn theater.
The show was amazing. The songs were catchy, the content was truly relevant to college students everywhere, and it was both funny and throught-provoking.
After the show, the little Honors group got to get behind the stage and talk with the actors and see how they controlled the puppet and how the magic was done. I don't mean to sound arrogant, but oh, the privilege of LSA Honors was so sweet that day.
I think I had the biggest, silliest grin after the play, and when one of the actors told me that "Your hedgehog shirt is awesome", I think I jumped around in girlish glee for a good fifteen minutes. It was definitely one of my happiest days in September.
Now, if I could properly find a job with MY English B.A....
I meant to write entries for September, but somehow I never found my chance, and before I knew it, the entire month had gone by. So here are mini-entries about what happened in September and subsequent feelings of it.
1. Senior year, and class adding/dropping.
You'd think that there would be no more hassles with classes when you've become a college senior. But the first few weeks were absolutely chaotic.
First, a Korean literature class I was to take had been cancelled. It's not even a section cancellation; the ENTIRE CLASS was gone, poof, and I was told to drop it from Wolverine Access. To fill up my credit hours, I needed to find a new class (which I did).
Secondly, I was waitlisted on a psychology class on children's literature. At the same time, I was enrolled for a developmental psych class. As luck would have it, the first day of the waitlisted class was full of whimsy and rainbow and unicorns, while the other class showed an ominous start, with an absentminded professor who did nothing but brag about her rich in-laws for thirty minutes before dismissing us. (I later found out that the professor had abysmal reviews on ratemyprofessors. com. Oh shit.) Luckily, I got into the chidren's lit class, so I was able to drop the other class. THANK YOU, GOD OF COLLEGE CLASSES, THANK YOU.
This is the only happy image I have.
2. 3rd Hunt Lounge has relocated
Not the actual lounge, but the people who commonly inhabited it - Andrew, Michelle, Steffie, Jordan, and Ben - had moved into one house, which happens to be the second floor of the house that Robert, Feiqi and co are living in. So now people are kind of living like one big chaotic family in one house (except me). I must say, the upper floor has a much cleaner and nicer arrangements. I expect to visit and study there often.
Will everyone get along, like this giraffe and penguin?
3. Tiger and Bunny ends
Tiger and Bunny, the anime series that I
(The "manual" books that the studio publishes aren't making things any better. Nathan had a sad backstory? Ivan looks up to Keith a lot? Nathan and Antonio have a more mature relationship than Antonio does with Kotetsu? Pao-lin and her manager/guardian get along well? SHOW US THESE THINGS IN THE SHOW, DAMMIT, STOP TELLING US ALL THIS IN A BOOK AFTER THE SHOW IS OVER!)
But all in all, I still loved the heck out of the series and would still gladly reccomend it to others. The character development of the two main leads were very well written; it was like seeing two real people react to real situations. And more importantly, you UNDERSTOOD why they acted the way they did and felt for them throughout the series. Not to mention that the premise of corporate-sponsored superheroes is really interesting.
So it was great fun watching the series.
Also, Kotetsu is gorgeous inspiring.
And Barnaby is a lovable prick.
4. Avenue Q
(I forgot to add this in last night! How could I forget this one?)
Through the LSA Honors, Robert, Andrew and I procured tickets for Avenue Q at just $5 (about 22% off original ticket price) and watched the show at the Mendelsohn theater.
The show was amazing. The songs were catchy, the content was truly relevant to college students everywhere, and it was both funny and throught-provoking.
After the show, the little Honors group got to get behind the stage and talk with the actors and see how they controlled the puppet and how the magic was done. I don't mean to sound arrogant, but oh, the privilege of LSA Honors was so sweet that day.
I think I had the biggest, silliest grin after the play, and when one of the actors told me that "Your hedgehog shirt is awesome", I think I jumped around in girlish glee for a good fifteen minutes. It was definitely one of my happiest days in September.
Thursday, August 4, 2011
Korea: thoughts, musings, and et cetera.
Just some thoughts, from the trivial to the serious, about Korea in general that I gathered during my stay.
Food:
Korean bakeries seem the tastiest to me. The desserts are both extremely tasty and aesthetically pleasing. I also like the fact that most cakes still use whipped cream, as I happen to dislike icing or other overly sugary/buttery cream-type things.
Speaking of desserts, oh my god I love Asian cheesecake. The cake is deliciously moist, the cheese infused between the bread is distinct without being overpowering, and it is SO SOFT - it just melts into your mouth before you realize it.
Korea is not the place to look for actual plain bread, though. Since bread is not a staple but a "Western thing", you can commonly find it in chain bakeries, and it ends up being kind of sweet and soft as well.
Things like yogurt and chocolate seem more "light" - probably less fat and sugar and what have you. However, they still taste natural, not like the clearly artificial-tasting Hershey bars and weird mushy "yogurt".
떡볶이 (spicy rice cakes) in Korea are murderously spicy. Oh god my tounge I can't feel.
Style
Korean people do care a lot about style and personal appearance. I have mixed feelings about this - while I do appreciate that people care in general, sometimes it can be a bit too much.
Circle lenses are freaking creepy. They might look okay on television screen, but in real life it just makes the wearer look like a zombie doll. GAH.
Etude House is the devil.
Holt and translations:
The more I translated letters and actually translated for people, the more I realized it was not easy; there are so many nuances, connotations and implications contained in a single word, so precision becomes key. Even with my high standards and pickiness with translation in general, I have not been perfect in my own word choice at times, but it's something I definitely am trying to improve.
There are also people who say things that are potentially misleading due to cultural differences, or those who say things that are just plain rude in any culture. You realize how much power you hold over those people when you choose to either stay silent or translate those difficult words. And when you do, you realize how easily you can affect their feelings - I try to soften and subdue the meaning the words I've heard when I have to translate difficult things, but I am constantly worrying whether I'm doing it right.
All in all, it was a worthwhile experience. And even with everything I said above, it's still pretty easy to undermine just how much of an influence you had over people who are meeting their long lost family members and are going through emotional times, and when they thank you and seem genuinely happy that you helped them, you feel like you've done at least something right in this world, and you feel worthwhile, like someone who has some purpose of existing. It's a very satisfying feeling.
Lifestyle
Life as a student in Korea definitely seems hectic and without a lot of free time. During my stay, my middle school cousin, who was about to go to high school, was busy all the time with cram schools, studying, and trying to figure out which high school to enroll. I wished I could give my middle school cousin some free nap times, if I could.
There are lots of food easily available for purchase in Korea. This results in some people just buying all their food instead of cooking. I prefer homemade food, though, since it's healthier and tastier (although it takes more work). I totally want to make my own kimchi in the future.
Life in Korea seems hectic with little time for leisure in general, especially if your children are younger than college age. I guess this may be why people just buy all their food. I wished that sometimes, society could learn to just take a chill pill at times.
Identity (?)
Even after all this time, some people seemed to think that because my family lived so long overseas, we'd somehow become, to put it bluntly, whitewashed. I don't mean ways of thinking or worldview. I mean that some thought we'd actually live like Western people at all times, as in eat steak and salad with a fork and knife, speak English at home, and all that crazy stuff.
Despite the freakishly long time we've stayed outside of Korea, we're still expats, not immigrants. If we immigrated somewhere and intended to live as foreign citizens, I can see where they're coming from. But we're expats who always have the idea that some day, in some distant future, we may be moving back to Korea again. I don't know why some people think it's so amazing that a Korean person with Korean citizenship is eating Korean food. If they were amazed at us having a slightly more Western mode of thought or something, I'd understand. But being so amazed that we do NOT eat bread three times a day and know how to use chopsticks? That's... kind of silly.
But then again, that one third generation jaebeol (corporate millionaires like Samsung, LG, etc) I met literally did not know how to use chopsticks, and yes, actually ate Western food with a fork and knife at all times, so maybe I shouldn't blame people for thinking like that. If some Korean billionaires can pretend they're pretentiously Western, people may think I'd do that, too.
Food:
Korean bakeries seem the tastiest to me. The desserts are both extremely tasty and aesthetically pleasing. I also like the fact that most cakes still use whipped cream, as I happen to dislike icing or other overly sugary/buttery cream-type things.
Speaking of desserts, oh my god I love Asian cheesecake. The cake is deliciously moist, the cheese infused between the bread is distinct without being overpowering, and it is SO SOFT - it just melts into your mouth before you realize it.
Korea is not the place to look for actual plain bread, though. Since bread is not a staple but a "Western thing", you can commonly find it in chain bakeries, and it ends up being kind of sweet and soft as well.
Things like yogurt and chocolate seem more "light" - probably less fat and sugar and what have you. However, they still taste natural, not like the clearly artificial-tasting Hershey bars and weird mushy "yogurt".
떡볶이 (spicy rice cakes) in Korea are murderously spicy. Oh god my tounge I can't feel.
Style
Korean people do care a lot about style and personal appearance. I have mixed feelings about this - while I do appreciate that people care in general, sometimes it can be a bit too much.
Circle lenses are freaking creepy. They might look okay on television screen, but in real life it just makes the wearer look like a zombie doll. GAH.
Etude House is the devil.
The interior looks like this, seriously.
Theoretically, this should be everything I hate; everything is pink and sparkly and cute,the staff are dressed in pink frilly dresses and call you "princess". The entire existence of this brand should make me want to run away screaming.
But despite it all, I cannot take my eyes off its pink interior and its cute, shiny products. It's too... cute. Guilty pleasure? Yes, very much so. (Also, it's kind of cheap and has nice lip makeup selections.)
Holt and translations:
The more I translated letters and actually translated for people, the more I realized it was not easy; there are so many nuances, connotations and implications contained in a single word, so precision becomes key. Even with my high standards and pickiness with translation in general, I have not been perfect in my own word choice at times, but it's something I definitely am trying to improve.
There are also people who say things that are potentially misleading due to cultural differences, or those who say things that are just plain rude in any culture. You realize how much power you hold over those people when you choose to either stay silent or translate those difficult words. And when you do, you realize how easily you can affect their feelings - I try to soften and subdue the meaning the words I've heard when I have to translate difficult things, but I am constantly worrying whether I'm doing it right.
All in all, it was a worthwhile experience. And even with everything I said above, it's still pretty easy to undermine just how much of an influence you had over people who are meeting their long lost family members and are going through emotional times, and when they thank you and seem genuinely happy that you helped them, you feel like you've done at least something right in this world, and you feel worthwhile, like someone who has some purpose of existing. It's a very satisfying feeling.
Lifestyle
Life as a student in Korea definitely seems hectic and without a lot of free time. During my stay, my middle school cousin, who was about to go to high school, was busy all the time with cram schools, studying, and trying to figure out which high school to enroll. I wished I could give my middle school cousin some free nap times, if I could.
There are lots of food easily available for purchase in Korea. This results in some people just buying all their food instead of cooking. I prefer homemade food, though, since it's healthier and tastier (although it takes more work). I totally want to make my own kimchi in the future.
Life in Korea seems hectic with little time for leisure in general, especially if your children are younger than college age. I guess this may be why people just buy all their food. I wished that sometimes, society could learn to just take a chill pill at times.
Identity (?)
Even after all this time, some people seemed to think that because my family lived so long overseas, we'd somehow become, to put it bluntly, whitewashed. I don't mean ways of thinking or worldview. I mean that some thought we'd actually live like Western people at all times, as in eat steak and salad with a fork and knife, speak English at home, and all that crazy stuff.
Despite the freakishly long time we've stayed outside of Korea, we're still expats, not immigrants. If we immigrated somewhere and intended to live as foreign citizens, I can see where they're coming from. But we're expats who always have the idea that some day, in some distant future, we may be moving back to Korea again. I don't know why some people think it's so amazing that a Korean person with Korean citizenship is eating Korean food. If they were amazed at us having a slightly more Western mode of thought or something, I'd understand. But being so amazed that we do NOT eat bread three times a day and know how to use chopsticks? That's... kind of silly.
But then again, that one third generation jaebeol (corporate millionaires like Samsung, LG, etc) I met literally did not know how to use chopsticks, and yes, actually ate Western food with a fork and knife at all times, so maybe I shouldn't blame people for thinking like that. If some Korean billionaires can pretend they're pretentiously Western, people may think I'd do that, too.
***
Sometimes, I wonder who the hell reads my blog entries, especially when I write college-essay level entries like this. Are there enough people in the world who gives a damn whether I write a drabble or a Master's thesis on what I do and what I think? Writing way too much has always been a bad habit of mine.
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
Last days in Korea
I got cut off from the blogging a little earlier than I have hoped to; and before I knew it, here I am, back in Prague. It had been a crazy few days running around, meeting people, and doing stuff, so things like chilling or sleeping were usually on top of the list rather than blogging.
Day 20 (Monday):
Translated for a family from America meeting with the adoptee's birth mother. Since the family was from the States, they were by far the easiest to talk to. We went to Cheongyechon after lunch.
In the evening, my uncle (the vet) asked us to come over to his clinic, where he showed us his awards and talked about family honor and success and all the fun stuff, nothing new. And then we had dinner, where he talked more about family honor and success.
Day 21 (Tuesday):
Met with my cousin Hyeonji. She is so sweet and adorable and cute and argh her mere presence causes mental diabetes. Usually, girls talking and acting cute makes me want to punch them, but I strangely didn't mind her being cute. Perhaps it's because she's always talked like that and I know she's not trying to sound cute on purpose. Perhaps it's because she's my cousin.
We walked round Daehakno, ate, watched a mediocre play (that she was kinda duped into purchasing tickets, but eh, no hard feelings), took sticker photos, looked at cute things, and ran around tring to avoid the extreme rain. Yes, the signs of flood-chaos were just beginning.
Day 22 (Wednesday):
See FLOOD EDITION.
Day 23 (Thursday):
More rain. Cancelled the meeting with my friend Tae Yong because it was raining way too much. More or less stayed in the house doing nothing because you had to be crazy to go out in that weather.
Day 24 (Friday):
Suddenly, there was no rain. Because our place was not flooded (and was in high ground), the ground dried up almost instantly. We went to watch Captain America (which was good) and chilled again.
Day 25 (Saturday):
We FINALLY met up with Tae Yong after two cancellations. Gangnam, although flooded a few days ago, looked like nothing happened when the rain dried up, compared to Namtaeryeong, where landslide occured and people died and still looked like a mess even when we passed by it on the bus (everyone was looking out the window apprehensively). There were police cars everywhere, and soldiers were recruited to try to clear up the mess as much as possible. Gangnam only had some places where the ground was lightly caked with mud, as if someone dropped sand on the floor. Sigh, rich people sure have it well.
Tae Yong lost a lot of weight (damn, your arms are like twigs!), but otherwise he was the very same Tae Yong from the ISP days. Not extremely talkative, kind of silly, kind of brusque at times, but actually a nice guy at the core and a pretty good friend. We caught up on each other's lives during lunch and dessert (matcha shaved ice is dangerously delicious), and then went to the karaoke, where we sang to our hearts' content with our pretty crappy vocals. There needs to be more karaoke in my life. Singing (albeit crappily) is lots of fun. Too bad there are only a handful of people who I would feel brave enough to karaoke together.
In the evening, we headed over to our aunt's, which was not too far away, and we stayed, conversed a bit, and then had Samgyetang for dinner, which is a chicken stew with glutinous rice, jujubes, ginseng, chestnuts, gingko, and all that healthy herbal stuff stuffed inside a whole (small) chicken. The broth could have been a bit more flavorful, but all in all it was pretty good.
Day 26 (Sunday):
~Packing~
Day 27 (Monday):
Left for Prague. Despite being four hours early, all the errands we had to run made us barely catch the flight (which then left an hour late, grr). The plane gave us spicy squid rice for lunch and general Western beef/chicken/fish meals for dinner (which was still good), as well as snacks. I have a feeling that the plane that leaves FROM Korea gives you more stuff, since they're able to procure things from Korea when they leave.
We arrived in the evening, had pizza because everyone was too busy to move more than necessary, and lounged about a bit before falling asleep.
So that was the last week of my stay in Korea. It was a hell of a lot busier compared to last year since there were three of us instead of one of me, and Holt decided to use me a lot more often than compared to last year. Also, the atmosphere was either very rainy or sickeningly hot. But even with all that, I still kind of liked my stay.
Overall thoughts and other things coming up in the next entry.
Day 20 (Monday):
Translated for a family from America meeting with the adoptee's birth mother. Since the family was from the States, they were by far the easiest to talk to. We went to Cheongyechon after lunch.
(Stock photo)
In the evening, my uncle (the vet) asked us to come over to his clinic, where he showed us his awards and talked about family honor and success and all the fun stuff, nothing new. And then we had dinner, where he talked more about family honor and success.
Day 21 (Tuesday):
Met with my cousin Hyeonji. She is so sweet and adorable and cute and argh her mere presence causes mental diabetes. Usually, girls talking and acting cute makes me want to punch them, but I strangely didn't mind her being cute. Perhaps it's because she's always talked like that and I know she's not trying to sound cute on purpose. Perhaps it's because she's my cousin.
Where we had dinner.
We walked round Daehakno, ate, watched a mediocre play (that she was kinda duped into purchasing tickets, but eh, no hard feelings), took sticker photos, looked at cute things, and ran around tring to avoid the extreme rain. Yes, the signs of flood-chaos were just beginning.
Esaping the rain in a chocolate cafe - DESSERT!!!
Day 22 (Wednesday):
See FLOOD EDITION.
Day 23 (Thursday):
More rain. Cancelled the meeting with my friend Tae Yong because it was raining way too much. More or less stayed in the house doing nothing because you had to be crazy to go out in that weather.
Day 24 (Friday):
Suddenly, there was no rain. Because our place was not flooded (and was in high ground), the ground dried up almost instantly. We went to watch Captain America (which was good) and chilled again.
Day 25 (Saturday):
We FINALLY met up with Tae Yong after two cancellations. Gangnam, although flooded a few days ago, looked like nothing happened when the rain dried up, compared to Namtaeryeong, where landslide occured and people died and still looked like a mess even when we passed by it on the bus (everyone was looking out the window apprehensively). There were police cars everywhere, and soldiers were recruited to try to clear up the mess as much as possible. Gangnam only had some places where the ground was lightly caked with mud, as if someone dropped sand on the floor. Sigh, rich people sure have it well.
Tae Yong lost a lot of weight (damn, your arms are like twigs!), but otherwise he was the very same Tae Yong from the ISP days. Not extremely talkative, kind of silly, kind of brusque at times, but actually a nice guy at the core and a pretty good friend. We caught up on each other's lives during lunch and dessert (matcha shaved ice is dangerously delicious), and then went to the karaoke, where we sang to our hearts' content with our pretty crappy vocals. There needs to be more karaoke in my life. Singing (albeit crappily) is lots of fun. Too bad there are only a handful of people who I would feel brave enough to karaoke together.
In the evening, we headed over to our aunt's, which was not too far away, and we stayed, conversed a bit, and then had Samgyetang for dinner, which is a chicken stew with glutinous rice, jujubes, ginseng, chestnuts, gingko, and all that healthy herbal stuff stuffed inside a whole (small) chicken. The broth could have been a bit more flavorful, but all in all it was pretty good.
(Stock photo)
Day 26 (Sunday):
~Packing~
Day 27 (Monday):
Left for Prague. Despite being four hours early, all the errands we had to run made us barely catch the flight (which then left an hour late, grr). The plane gave us spicy squid rice for lunch and general Western beef/chicken/fish meals for dinner (which was still good), as well as snacks. I have a feeling that the plane that leaves FROM Korea gives you more stuff, since they're able to procure things from Korea when they leave.
We arrived in the evening, had pizza because everyone was too busy to move more than necessary, and lounged about a bit before falling asleep.
So that was the last week of my stay in Korea. It was a hell of a lot busier compared to last year since there were three of us instead of one of me, and Holt decided to use me a lot more often than compared to last year. Also, the atmosphere was either very rainy or sickeningly hot. But even with all that, I still kind of liked my stay.
Overall thoughts and other things coming up in the next entry.
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Korea Day 22: Flood Edition
I WAS going to write about what happened the past few days, how I met my cousin and how freaking adorable she was, etc, but THEN FLOOD HAPPENED.
So rain news comes first.
Apparently the rain is record-level: the most it has rained since about a hundred years, in fact. It is also raining profusely - it has been raining somewhere between 100 and 200mm all round Seoul. Parts of Seoul have been flooded, and in other areas people have died from rain, floods, landslides and other disasters.
So rain news comes first.
Apparently the rain is record-level: the most it has rained since about a hundred years, in fact. It is also raining profusely - it has been raining somewhere between 100 and 200mm all round Seoul. Parts of Seoul have been flooded, and in other areas people have died from rain, floods, landslides and other disasters.
Not complete or 100% accurate, but a rough summary of what went on until evening.
Note: 1: Where we live, 2: Where we first ride the subway, 3: Where we work. Red line is the route we go for work.
When we first went to work at our usual time, the bus stopped in the middle of the road. The driver announced that the road was blocked from here on, so we had to take the subway. Later, I found out that the area was blocked because landslide occured and people died.
My brother and I took the subway to go to Destination #2 (Sadang), where we would change lanes and then go to Destination #3 (Hapjeong). It was evident that things were kind of serious while we rode the subway; one of the stations we stopped by was caked with mud on the floor. We ended being about half an hour late to work. We heard that other subway lines have been suspended temporarily. Yes, entire lines were suspended.
The rain poured and poured even while we worked (oh right, by the way, it was the last day of work). Just like last year, the people were sad to see us go and gave us warm goodbyes. It was quite touching, and I did enjoy working there, I will let you know, though Holt news is kind of swept by the sidelines from flood news right now.
Because the rain was strong, everyone was let out an hour early (5PM). Because of the landslide, we didn't switch over to the bus Destination #2 but switched to the light blue line (which was not suspended) and took Destination #4 (Indeogwon), where we took the bus home.
(Destination #2 was suspended shortly after we got off.)
Thoughts and comments:
LIES. They said the rainy season was over. LIES I SAY.
The weather forecast has not been at all helpful in this situation - they underestimated the amount of rainfall by a lot, not to mention that several news sources have shown the wrong flood photo for several locations.
On a more serious note, I hoped there would be at least some systematic information on what stations and lines were closed, where to go, what the outside situation is and all that. But all we had to rely on was the internet news, tweets, and security guards telling people not to enter. Oh, and the occasional announcements on the subway system.
I feel like there should be some sort of central announcement system that alerts and informs people what is going on in case of an emergency like this. I know Seoul usually almost never has floods, but come on.
With all those computerized systems of when the bus is coming, with the computerized tickets, with all the safety doors on the subway stations, and with the level of development going on in the entire public transit in general, I expected better. There are big screens and TVs on major subway stations showing public announcements and advertisements; why the fuck aren't you using those for emergency purposes? Where the fuck is your sense of practicality? It's as useless as those high-tech screens on the new UGli lounge that just displays recent library search terms.
People have been relying on twitter of all communication devices to figure out which areas are flooded, which ways are closed, and to see photos of how bad the damage is. It was because there was no other fast and reliable way to get information. Okay, fine, so Koreans are internet nerds who use twitter a lot, good for you. But what about the old and the poor who aren't internet-savvy? Who's going to help them? This is when general public systems like the freaking metro station is of no help.
Jesus Christ, civil services.
Sunday, July 24, 2011
Korea Day 17, Day 18
Long post will be long.
Day 17
One sentence summary: Most awkward translating experience ever.
In the morning I translated for an adoptee-foster mother reunion. That reunion went well - everyone was happy to see each other, both parties were polite and pleasant, the foster mother and the adoptee both thanked me affectionately, they gave me a few pieces of Danish chocolate-covered almonds - and I felt happy knowing that I did some good to some people in the world.
The next translation appointment, however, was difficult.
The workers at Holt repeatedly told us to be careful with what to translate and what not to, as cultural differences and general lack of tact can cause people to say some potentially offensive or difficult things that could hurt feelings.
I could write for hours explaining exactly when went down, but given time constraints and privacy issues (and everyone's attention span), I have made it into list form. Here is the collection of "What NOT to say when you meet your long-lost children after decades".
1. Do not repeatedly express your frustration that you and your child (who has lived his/her life as a foreign citizen) have a language barrier. Of course you have a language barrier.
2. Do not nitpick about your child's religion (or lack thereof) and repeatedly say that he/she should be going to the (Protestant) church and believe in Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.
3. Do not be nosy and ask whether your child prefers Asian women or white women, and then comment that you think *country censored for privacy* has the best-looking ladies.
4. Do not ask repeatedly when your child is going to be married.
5. Do not repeatedly comment that your child is fat, and that the child should lose weight, and worry that the jewelry you got for him/her won't fit because he/she's too fat, and comment again that he/she's too fat. Do not, ESPECIALLY, speculate that he/she is fat because he/she had *issues censored for privacy*.
(That last part, oh my god. It was so offensive and heartless. How can people just SAY that and not realize that is such a horrible thing to say?!)
6. Do not play the blame game of who "abandoned" your child. Bottom line is, he/she was sent away regardless.
7. Do not attribute your child's talents and interests by citing dubious statistics, such as saying that children take after 70% of their mother's intelligence.
8. If you have a complicated family history, do not talk about things that could potentially hurt the child's feelings - actually, don't even talk about it amongst yourselves because I can't translate it, and the child kind of feels left alone in the dark when I cannot tell him/her what those long conversations are about becuase it's a sensitive matter.
So yes, it was the most awkward translating experience I ever had, and I shall refrain from saying anything further about it on the blog other than this list. It does make me realize what a tricky business translating is, and how much influence they wield in a situation when they choose to translate the other person's words at all, and what words they use when they do so.
Day 18:
One sentence summary: YJS has acupuncture.
Strictly speaking, I have not been all that well during my stay in Korea. I wasn't physically sick, but my skin and hair had been in horrible condition since the end of June, among other issues. It was clear that SOMETHING in me was off, even if it wasn't evident.
So before heading out to Coex Mall, we visited an Oriental medicine clinic near my aunt's place.
I have never went to an Oriental medicine clinic before - it smelled of the strong, but not entirely unpleasant scent of traditional herbal medicine.
The doctor took my pulse, asked about my symptoms as well as asking general health-related questions. He also pressed at my abdomen with his fingers to see where it hurt more. (the left side hurt more)
A while later, he came to the conclusion that I am naturally born with unstable flow of hormones and whatnot in my body (which appears to be hereditary, as my mother confirmed she is like that as well), and when it gets suceptible to excessive amounts of stress that my body cannot handle, it becomes even more unstable, which is causing all these problems as of now.
He also said that I have an "explosive" trait (hence my left abdomen hurt more when probed), meaning that I would blow up when I am very upset (which is true), but that I have not been properly getting rid of the stress due to my introverted personality.
Basically, the diagnosis was that stress was fucking me up.
(Yes, yes it has. But could it be that I am stressed to the point that my own body is turning against me? Clearly I need better coping mechanisms!)
I was prescribed some medicine which I'll take for the next three months (whee, I get to show you guys in Ann Arbor what it looks like, I guess) and meanwhile, they were going to give me some acupuncture to relieve the current problems I was having.
Because the left side of my body was affected, they put needles on my right hand, arm, abdomen, and leg.
Acupuncture didn't hurt all that much, actually. There was the initial sting when the needles go in your body, but it really just feels like being pricked by a needle, then a bit of dull, numb pain as if, you know, someone poked a needle in your body. To summarize, it wasn't all that bad.
They did something interesting with the needles on my abdomen, though - the nurse brought a machine with a bunch of dials and wires, and connected the wires to the needles on my abdomen. The machine, I assume, sent electricity through the wires (to the sound of the regular ticking of the machine). It felt as if my stomach was pulsating, like I had the heart located near my stomach instead of my chest. That was not a sensation that I expected my abdomen would ever feel.
So to sum it all up, the trip to the Oriental medicine clinic was an interesting experience. I know the whole thing with acupuncture and herbal medicine may seem shady to some, but personally, I feel that it isn't some huge fraud - it still persists even in modern times for a reason. I see it more as Eastern medicine and Western medicine picking up the same problems in the human body in different ways, kind of like two art students drawing a still life of the same apple, except one is painting it and the other is drawing with pencil. The pencil drawings are more line-detailed and paint has color, but in the end, they're still drawing the same apple. Each branch of medicine has different focus points and approaches, but in the end they still pinpoint and solve the same bodily ailments.
Day 19 (which was today) and onwards will move to the next post, as I need to sleep. Good night everyone!
Day 17
One sentence summary: Most awkward translating experience ever.
In the morning I translated for an adoptee-foster mother reunion. That reunion went well - everyone was happy to see each other, both parties were polite and pleasant, the foster mother and the adoptee both thanked me affectionately, they gave me a few pieces of Danish chocolate-covered almonds - and I felt happy knowing that I did some good to some people in the world.
The next translation appointment, however, was difficult.
The workers at Holt repeatedly told us to be careful with what to translate and what not to, as cultural differences and general lack of tact can cause people to say some potentially offensive or difficult things that could hurt feelings.
I could write for hours explaining exactly when went down, but given time constraints and privacy issues (and everyone's attention span), I have made it into list form. Here is the collection of "What NOT to say when you meet your long-lost children after decades".
1. Do not repeatedly express your frustration that you and your child (who has lived his/her life as a foreign citizen) have a language barrier. Of course you have a language barrier.
2. Do not nitpick about your child's religion (or lack thereof) and repeatedly say that he/she should be going to the (Protestant) church and believe in Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.
3. Do not be nosy and ask whether your child prefers Asian women or white women, and then comment that you think *country censored for privacy* has the best-looking ladies.
4. Do not ask repeatedly when your child is going to be married.
5. Do not repeatedly comment that your child is fat, and that the child should lose weight, and worry that the jewelry you got for him/her won't fit because he/she's too fat, and comment again that he/she's too fat. Do not, ESPECIALLY, speculate that he/she is fat because he/she had *issues censored for privacy*.
(That last part, oh my god. It was so offensive and heartless. How can people just SAY that and not realize that is such a horrible thing to say?!)
6. Do not play the blame game of who "abandoned" your child. Bottom line is, he/she was sent away regardless.
7. Do not attribute your child's talents and interests by citing dubious statistics, such as saying that children take after 70% of their mother's intelligence.
8. If you have a complicated family history, do not talk about things that could potentially hurt the child's feelings - actually, don't even talk about it amongst yourselves because I can't translate it, and the child kind of feels left alone in the dark when I cannot tell him/her what those long conversations are about becuase it's a sensitive matter.
So yes, it was the most awkward translating experience I ever had, and I shall refrain from saying anything further about it on the blog other than this list. It does make me realize what a tricky business translating is, and how much influence they wield in a situation when they choose to translate the other person's words at all, and what words they use when they do so.
Day 18:
One sentence summary: YJS has acupuncture.
Strictly speaking, I have not been all that well during my stay in Korea. I wasn't physically sick, but my skin and hair had been in horrible condition since the end of June, among other issues. It was clear that SOMETHING in me was off, even if it wasn't evident.
So before heading out to Coex Mall, we visited an Oriental medicine clinic near my aunt's place.
I have never went to an Oriental medicine clinic before - it smelled of the strong, but not entirely unpleasant scent of traditional herbal medicine.
The doctor took my pulse, asked about my symptoms as well as asking general health-related questions. He also pressed at my abdomen with his fingers to see where it hurt more. (the left side hurt more)
A while later, he came to the conclusion that I am naturally born with unstable flow of hormones and whatnot in my body (which appears to be hereditary, as my mother confirmed she is like that as well), and when it gets suceptible to excessive amounts of stress that my body cannot handle, it becomes even more unstable, which is causing all these problems as of now.
He also said that I have an "explosive" trait (hence my left abdomen hurt more when probed), meaning that I would blow up when I am very upset (which is true), but that I have not been properly getting rid of the stress due to my introverted personality.
Basically, the diagnosis was that stress was fucking me up.
(Yes, yes it has. But could it be that I am stressed to the point that my own body is turning against me? Clearly I need better coping mechanisms!)
I was prescribed some medicine which I'll take for the next three months (whee, I get to show you guys in Ann Arbor what it looks like, I guess) and meanwhile, they were going to give me some acupuncture to relieve the current problems I was having.
Because the left side of my body was affected, they put needles on my right hand, arm, abdomen, and leg.
Acupuncture didn't hurt all that much, actually. There was the initial sting when the needles go in your body, but it really just feels like being pricked by a needle, then a bit of dull, numb pain as if, you know, someone poked a needle in your body. To summarize, it wasn't all that bad.
They did something interesting with the needles on my abdomen, though - the nurse brought a machine with a bunch of dials and wires, and connected the wires to the needles on my abdomen. The machine, I assume, sent electricity through the wires (to the sound of the regular ticking of the machine). It felt as if my stomach was pulsating, like I had the heart located near my stomach instead of my chest. That was not a sensation that I expected my abdomen would ever feel.
So to sum it all up, the trip to the Oriental medicine clinic was an interesting experience. I know the whole thing with acupuncture and herbal medicine may seem shady to some, but personally, I feel that it isn't some huge fraud - it still persists even in modern times for a reason. I see it more as Eastern medicine and Western medicine picking up the same problems in the human body in different ways, kind of like two art students drawing a still life of the same apple, except one is painting it and the other is drawing with pencil. The pencil drawings are more line-detailed and paint has color, but in the end, they're still drawing the same apple. Each branch of medicine has different focus points and approaches, but in the end they still pinpoint and solve the same bodily ailments.
Day 19 (which was today) and onwards will move to the next post, as I need to sleep. Good night everyone!
Thursday, July 21, 2011
Korea Day 14, 16 (REVISED)
Day 14
Good news: the ongoing rain has stopped. Bad news: it's hot as hell. Oh dear god it's hot.
My skin feels like it's burning out in the sun.
But that's not the point of this entry; my brother and I went out to Gangnam to have dinner with our two cousins (from my dad's side).
For those who do not know, Gangnam is basically one of the richest sectors in Seoul, making it one of the richest sector in all of South Korea.
Gangnam is the area for the rich and privileged, and it shows; the streets were big, the buildings were expensive and shiny, the abundance of flourescent lights blinded out the dark night, and even the signs on the subway station were big and fancy and new (and even written in BIG BOLD ENGLISH)
Even the people looked a little different there; men were more fashionable, women were pretty and slim (and fashionable), and there were a much higher white person percentage than other parts of Seoul and its suburbs I've been thus far.
Dinner with the cousins went pretty well. We went to a meat place, and among the five of us we shared ten portions of pork, along with soju and beer. It was very much a meat-intense dinner. I think I've increased my alcohol tolerance a bit by drinking two glasses of beer-soju mix shot and not collapsing to the ground (my brother drank eight and was still alive, amazingly.)
Afterwards, we stopped by a nearby bakery chain and ordered shaved ice to wake up a little from the alcohol, and chatted some more.
It was pretty nice chatting with them - the age gap truly does not matter once you hit your late teens or enter into your twenties.
It's also scary thinking how much time had passed - it really seems like yesterday since my brother and I were in elementary school playing with the younger cousins during the holidays while the older ones talked about college and part-time work, being all old and important. THE TIME. WHERE IS IT GOING.
And it was when my brother and I were teetering down the street, still a bit tipsy from the alcohol, moving among hundreds of young souls in the middle of Gangnam that I thought, you know, this is what othercool Korean kids around our age usually do when they visit Korea in the summer - go clubbing and shopping at the hottest places in Korea, hang out with people and drink, drink, drink, . And people have to actually tell us to come out of the house for us to get our asses out of the house to go drink and be fancy. Man, we really have no life.
Day 16
Today, I translated for a family from Norway.
The family had adopted three children, and they were going to meet each of their foster mothers. Although there were complications with the logistics (accidents, time delays, one foster mother unable to be reached, etc), the translation process went smoothly enough and everyone seemed reasonably satisfied.
The family gave each foster mother a photo album compiled with photos from Norway, and man, Norway looks beautiful. The photos of the mountains and lakes make instant postcard material. Put Norway on the list of places to visit before I die.
Around noon, the family and one of the foster mothers went to a nearby restaurant (as instructed by Holt) for lunch. It was apparently the restuarant where many foreigners who had business with the adoption center stopped by to eat.
Usually I have not experienced unpleasantry in terms of service in Korea - there may have been slightly unsatisfactory instances or culturally different, but none of them have been reprehensible. However, I cannot say the same for this restaurant; their excuse of "cultural tolerance" is slightly disparaging and even kind of offensive if you think about it.
When we sat down at the table, we found that the menu was entirely in Korean. Since there were a number of items, I pondered on how to translate and explain the food to the family. The restaurant staff urged me to make a decision quickly.
"But the menu is in Korean, I should at least ask what they want and then order-"
"The foreigners don't like the other stuff since it's spicy. Just order pork ribs and get it over with, they usually eat that," they said.
Jeez, what if people want to try new things? Some people might not like meat all that much. I translate, explain, and summarize the menu, and the family decided upon their own choice that they wanted pork ribs.
Usually, an order of meat is accompanied with a (free) bowl of rice. However, when we got our meat order, only the Norwegian family got rice while the foster mother and I had none.
"Um, there are two bowls of rice missing," I said.
"I know, I gave the foreigners rice and the two of you will get Naengmyeon as a side. The foreigners don't really like Naengmyeon, but you two are Koreans, so you're okay with that, right?"
I'm Korean, and actually, I'm not too crazy about Naengmyeon. Furthermore, I was not in the mood to have an entire bowl of noodles on top of meat, at all. I try to get a bowl of rice again.
"You'll get naengmyeon," a curt reply came back.
The foster mother was fine with having naengmyeon, but I wasn't; I declined my order and just ended up having pork and vegetables, no carbohydrates.
It may be lunchtime, it may be busy, it may be hot and annoying. But somehow I don't think that warrants them to just assume everything and try to decide dishes for people without asking.
Besides, isn't it awfully presumptuous to think "If you're Korean you'll eat this", "If you're not Korean, you'll avoid this and eat this instead"? Okay, maybe affluent white people aren't used to spicy food compared to Koreans in general. Maybe they like eating pork ribs over everything else in general. That doesn't mean everyone does.
Additional thoughts, comments, and everything else thus far:
Napkin tissues in Korean restaurants are thin, almost like toilet paper. Somehow I have a feeling that this is derived from the fact that in the past (when the concept of napkin tissues were novel and you just needed to wipe stuff up), people did use toilet paper, which was a point of culture shock (and horror) to many foreigners. At least they have seperate (albeit thin) tissue for napkin use now?
Department store employees in Korea are well-trained; perhaps up to a creepy point. Especially in cosmetic stores, the staff follow you around and watch your every move, ready to recommend this and that, which unnerves me. I want to look around without people looking over my shoulder! Aaaaah please leave me alone.
I've said this before, but I can't help but realize how heteronormative Korean society is. Advertisements for wedding halls talk about celebration for brides and grooms, women learn makeup skills to "capture the hearts of men", men are obviously thought to be simple creatures who only think about girls, girls, girls (and sex). Yes, they are media portrayals, and yes, other places in the world do this too, but I'm just pointing out observations here. I think I might have gotten too used to the "Political correctedness ASSUME NOTHING" atmosphere of U S of A (I know not all of USA is like this, but still) but then again, Korea isn't that much of an ethnic (or cultural) hodgepodge. Still...
The way Korean society as a whole label ethnic Korean foreigners is an issue I am most curious about, and one that Korean people discuss a lot as well. By large, it seems a tad hypocritical; when they've done something great (sports stars, political stars, entertainers who made it big, etc), they're quick to call them "ONE OF US" and pride on the prowess of Koreans and expect the celebrities to touch upon their Korean ancestry, even though they're not Korean citizens anymore. On the other hand, there are people who are all too quick to shun ethnic Korean foreigners as "others" who can never be Koreans, because the foreign citizens (or their parents) are "traitors" who left the country to live the good life on the land of milk and honey (usually White People Land such as Europe or USA/Canada), and would never know all the plight and suffering and triumph of the Koreans and can never truly be Korean. It's not as bad as it was in the past, but the remnants of "us vs. them" and "one of us when it suits us" business is still there. My personal opinion is that "they are not one of us unless they want to be", but it seems that this is not as evident as it seems. The criticism towards this weird inclusion/exclusion game is something Koreans themselves are aware of and often criticize, but it never ceases to frustrate me whenever it happens. Leave them alone if they don't consider themselves Koreans, and don't shoo away those who actually want to be Koreans.
On a similar note, I know it is awfully presumptuous and extremely hypocritical of me, but I just cannot help but do a double take whenever I come across the occasional white guy/Korean girl pair when I'm in Korea. I've never judged any of them in the States, but I am actively trying to stop myself from judging them halfway across the world. Perhaps it's the geographical context: most Koreans living in Korea aren't all that excellent in English, most white people in Korea are usually English teachers or American GI's, and while there are good, respectable English teachers and GI's out there, there are indeed a good number of "ethnocentric pothead fucktards" around to give every other white person a bad name. Additionally, even with globalization and all, the social circles of the two groups are not likely to coincide with each other unless the Korean party is rich and privileged. Given all that, I can't help but assume and become judgemental, which bugs the hell out of me.LOL HYPOCRITE
To lighten up the mood, Korean bakeries are awesome and they have pretty cake designs and tasty menus and interesting concoctions of Western pastry. Watch me melt into a puddle of glee whenever I go in one of them.
I like all the cute and fluffy things Korea has to offer. Everyone in the world needs more cute and fluffy things.
Good news: the ongoing rain has stopped. Bad news: it's hot as hell. Oh dear god it's hot.
My skin feels like it's burning out in the sun.
But that's not the point of this entry; my brother and I went out to Gangnam to have dinner with our two cousins (from my dad's side).
For those who do not know, Gangnam is basically one of the richest sectors in Seoul, making it one of the richest sector in all of South Korea.
Gangnam is the area for the rich and privileged, and it shows; the streets were big, the buildings were expensive and shiny, the abundance of flourescent lights blinded out the dark night, and even the signs on the subway station were big and fancy and new (and even written in BIG BOLD ENGLISH)
Even the people looked a little different there; men were more fashionable, women were pretty and slim (and fashionable), and there were a much higher white person percentage than other parts of Seoul and its suburbs I've been thus far.
Dinner with the cousins went pretty well. We went to a meat place, and among the five of us we shared ten portions of pork, along with soju and beer. It was very much a meat-intense dinner. I think I've increased my alcohol tolerance a bit by drinking two glasses of beer-soju mix shot and not collapsing to the ground (my brother drank eight and was still alive, amazingly.)
Afterwards, we stopped by a nearby bakery chain and ordered shaved ice to wake up a little from the alcohol, and chatted some more.
It was pretty nice chatting with them - the age gap truly does not matter once you hit your late teens or enter into your twenties.
It's also scary thinking how much time had passed - it really seems like yesterday since my brother and I were in elementary school playing with the younger cousins during the holidays while the older ones talked about college and part-time work, being all old and important. THE TIME. WHERE IS IT GOING.
And it was when my brother and I were teetering down the street, still a bit tipsy from the alcohol, moving among hundreds of young souls in the middle of Gangnam that I thought, you know, this is what other
Day 16
Today, I translated for a family from Norway.
The family had adopted three children, and they were going to meet each of their foster mothers. Although there were complications with the logistics (accidents, time delays, one foster mother unable to be reached, etc), the translation process went smoothly enough and everyone seemed reasonably satisfied.
The family gave each foster mother a photo album compiled with photos from Norway, and man, Norway looks beautiful. The photos of the mountains and lakes make instant postcard material. Put Norway on the list of places to visit before I die.
Around noon, the family and one of the foster mothers went to a nearby restaurant (as instructed by Holt) for lunch. It was apparently the restuarant where many foreigners who had business with the adoption center stopped by to eat.
Usually I have not experienced unpleasantry in terms of service in Korea - there may have been slightly unsatisfactory instances or culturally different, but none of them have been reprehensible. However, I cannot say the same for this restaurant; their excuse of "cultural tolerance" is slightly disparaging and even kind of offensive if you think about it.
When we sat down at the table, we found that the menu was entirely in Korean. Since there were a number of items, I pondered on how to translate and explain the food to the family. The restaurant staff urged me to make a decision quickly.
"But the menu is in Korean, I should at least ask what they want and then order-"
"The foreigners don't like the other stuff since it's spicy. Just order pork ribs and get it over with, they usually eat that," they said.
Jeez, what if people want to try new things? Some people might not like meat all that much. I translate, explain, and summarize the menu, and the family decided upon their own choice that they wanted pork ribs.
Usually, an order of meat is accompanied with a (free) bowl of rice. However, when we got our meat order, only the Norwegian family got rice while the foster mother and I had none.
"Um, there are two bowls of rice missing," I said.
"I know, I gave the foreigners rice and the two of you will get Naengmyeon as a side. The foreigners don't really like Naengmyeon, but you two are Koreans, so you're okay with that, right?"
Pictured above: cultural segregation?
I'm Korean, and actually, I'm not too crazy about Naengmyeon. Furthermore, I was not in the mood to have an entire bowl of noodles on top of meat, at all. I try to get a bowl of rice again.
"You'll get naengmyeon," a curt reply came back.
The foster mother was fine with having naengmyeon, but I wasn't; I declined my order and just ended up having pork and vegetables, no carbohydrates.
It may be lunchtime, it may be busy, it may be hot and annoying. But somehow I don't think that warrants them to just assume everything and try to decide dishes for people without asking.
Besides, isn't it awfully presumptuous to think "If you're Korean you'll eat this", "If you're not Korean, you'll avoid this and eat this instead"? Okay, maybe affluent white people aren't used to spicy food compared to Koreans in general. Maybe they like eating pork ribs over everything else in general. That doesn't mean everyone does.
Additional thoughts, comments, and everything else thus far:
Napkin tissues in Korean restaurants are thin, almost like toilet paper. Somehow I have a feeling that this is derived from the fact that in the past (when the concept of napkin tissues were novel and you just needed to wipe stuff up), people did use toilet paper, which was a point of culture shock (and horror) to many foreigners. At least they have seperate (albeit thin) tissue for napkin use now?
Department store employees in Korea are well-trained; perhaps up to a creepy point. Especially in cosmetic stores, the staff follow you around and watch your every move, ready to recommend this and that, which unnerves me. I want to look around without people looking over my shoulder! Aaaaah please leave me alone.
I've said this before, but I can't help but realize how heteronormative Korean society is. Advertisements for wedding halls talk about celebration for brides and grooms, women learn makeup skills to "capture the hearts of men", men are obviously thought to be simple creatures who only think about girls, girls, girls (and sex). Yes, they are media portrayals, and yes, other places in the world do this too, but I'm just pointing out observations here. I think I might have gotten too used to the "Political correctedness ASSUME NOTHING" atmosphere of U S of A (I know not all of USA is like this, but still) but then again, Korea isn't that much of an ethnic (or cultural) hodgepodge. Still...
The way Korean society as a whole label ethnic Korean foreigners is an issue I am most curious about, and one that Korean people discuss a lot as well. By large, it seems a tad hypocritical; when they've done something great (sports stars, political stars, entertainers who made it big, etc), they're quick to call them "ONE OF US" and pride on the prowess of Koreans and expect the celebrities to touch upon their Korean ancestry, even though they're not Korean citizens anymore. On the other hand, there are people who are all too quick to shun ethnic Korean foreigners as "others" who can never be Koreans, because the foreign citizens (or their parents) are "traitors" who left the country to live the good life on the land of milk and honey (usually White People Land such as Europe or USA/Canada), and would never know all the plight and suffering and triumph of the Koreans and can never truly be Korean. It's not as bad as it was in the past, but the remnants of "us vs. them" and "one of us when it suits us" business is still there. My personal opinion is that "they are not one of us unless they want to be", but it seems that this is not as evident as it seems. The criticism towards this weird inclusion/exclusion game is something Koreans themselves are aware of and often criticize, but it never ceases to frustrate me whenever it happens. Leave them alone if they don't consider themselves Koreans, and don't shoo away those who actually want to be Koreans.
On a similar note, I know it is awfully presumptuous and extremely hypocritical of me, but I just cannot help but do a double take whenever I come across the occasional white guy/Korean girl pair when I'm in Korea. I've never judged any of them in the States, but I am actively trying to stop myself from judging them halfway across the world. Perhaps it's the geographical context: most Koreans living in Korea aren't all that excellent in English, most white people in Korea are usually English teachers or American GI's, and while there are good, respectable English teachers and GI's out there, there are indeed a good number of "ethnocentric pothead fucktards" around to give every other white person a bad name. Additionally, even with globalization and all, the social circles of the two groups are not likely to coincide with each other unless the Korean party is rich and privileged. Given all that, I can't help but assume and become judgemental, which bugs the hell out of me.
To lighten up the mood, Korean bakeries are awesome and they have pretty cake designs and tasty menus and interesting concoctions of Western pastry. Watch me melt into a puddle of glee whenever I go in one of them.
I like all the cute and fluffy things Korea has to offer. Everyone in the world needs more cute and fluffy things.
Sunday, July 17, 2011
Korea Day 10, 12, 13
Day 10
We've worked three days in a row, and the remaining free day we walked a distance to our other grandmother's neighborhood so that my brother can get his identification card and also get answers for his impending military draft. Incidentally, there has been a string of military shootings and suicides stemmed from abuse in the military all across the country. This probably makes the already undesirable prospect of going to the military even scarier.
Stayed with grandma and uncle for a few hours once again, ate lots of sweet food. My extended family's love for sweet food and the family history of diabetes are totally not related at all; nope, totally not seeing the BIG RED SIGNS OF OBVIOUS here.
This probably means I need to cut back on my sugar before it's too late.
Day 12
It's my mom's birthday.
It was also the weekend, and we were all pooped from running errands every single day during the week, so we slept in for a much-needed rest.
There isn't much to say other than we celebrated mom's birthday with cake, had lots and lots of food, and chilled.
Day 13
Birthday celebration extension.
For lunch we went to Vips, a family restaurant chain of sorts. The food was just as delicious as it had been last year, save for one crucial and disappointing fact: the mangoes are not as tasty as last year's. I swear they must have changed where they import the mangoes. Also, they had gotten rid of the clam chowder soup, which I thought was the best soup out of their selection. Ah well, I was there to eat, not to be a food critic.
For dinner we all had bits of Korean-style ramen, since being Koreans, we needed our hot and spicy food quota to quell our insides after a large portion of salad and steak and soup and what have you.
We ate a shitton of food for the second day in a row. At this point, I would not be surprised if my blog entries end up becoming a sort of food blog. And I need to watch my weight.
Just when we thought we would not be touching food again for the day, who comes back home but my uncle, who bought ice cream cake in celebration of my mom's birthday; and also, he just wanted to have some beer and snacks since it was a Sunday.
My aunt is horrible at organizing her fridge and it is almost at the point of bursting with months-old food, or what probably used to be food. This meant that there was no place to put the ice cream cake in the fridge, so we had to eat it, at 11PM. Alcohol party commence~
(No, I did not get drunk, as much as drunk blogging would have been hilarious.)
And now, another round of general situations and some thoughts to consider:
The rainy season is FINALLY over. Thank god. Now people can walk about the streets dry. The bad news is that the hot weather is back - and now I truly feel the Korean summer heat in all its humid sticky hotness.
Going to the military in Korea now apparently takes as much research and effort as it would to get into a prestigious high school. So much has changed and there are information that you wouldn't easily get unless you called the MMA.
Whenever I walk the streets with my glasses on, people automatically think I am a high school girl. My mom tells me it's because I look young, but I reckon it has more to do with how girls dress in Korea - simply put, almost no (unmarried) females older than high school students walk around wearing glasses unless it was a fashion statement. Most college-age girls are also not fat, and they actually primp and prettify themselves intensely since it's just about the first time they're allowed to do that after the hellish high school years, not to mention Korea is probably an appearance-conscious society like many Asian countries.
Continuing with the appearance-conscious society thing, being in Korea does make me take care of my appearance more compared to when I'm in Prague or Ann Arbor. Most everyone dresses nicely and they're all so pretty and polished-looking; simply put, my desire to not be the one slob among the crowd becomes greater than my general apathy towards style and "looking pretty".
This is something I've noticed for years, but the way my immediate family and several extended family members speak is a little... different from how other Korean people will speak. I'm a little hesitant to say there is a difference in "accent" because it's not a problem of dialect or vocabulary usage. It's more of a difference in intonation, perhaps, or how one uses one's nose and mouth in conjunction to the speaking. Simply put, most Korean girls, to me, sound a little nasally with a hint of a whine when they speak, like they're simultaneously swallowing bursts of air. The Korean guys, on the other hand, have a certain aggressive urgency in their voices, as if they're exhaling their words out violently before the words are fully formed. Meanwhile, me, my brother, mother, and a few people on both sides of my family speak more like news anchors on TV - every syllable and its pronunciations even in breath.
Now I must bed, for this household is a family of early bedtimes.
We've worked three days in a row, and the remaining free day we walked a distance to our other grandmother's neighborhood so that my brother can get his identification card and also get answers for his impending military draft. Incidentally, there has been a string of military shootings and suicides stemmed from abuse in the military all across the country. This probably makes the already undesirable prospect of going to the military even scarier.
Stayed with grandma and uncle for a few hours once again, ate lots of sweet food. My extended family's love for sweet food and the family history of diabetes are totally not related at all; nope, totally not seeing the BIG RED SIGNS OF OBVIOUS here.
Day 12
It's my mom's birthday.
It was also the weekend, and we were all pooped from running errands every single day during the week, so we slept in for a much-needed rest.
There isn't much to say other than we celebrated mom's birthday with cake, had lots and lots of food, and chilled.
Day 13
Birthday celebration extension.
For lunch we went to Vips, a family restaurant chain of sorts. The food was just as delicious as it had been last year, save for one crucial and disappointing fact: the mangoes are not as tasty as last year's. I swear they must have changed where they import the mangoes. Also, they had gotten rid of the clam chowder soup, which I thought was the best soup out of their selection. Ah well, I was there to eat, not to be a food critic.
For dinner we all had bits of Korean-style ramen, since being Koreans, we needed our hot and spicy food quota to quell our insides after a large portion of salad and steak and soup and what have you.
We ate a shitton of food for the second day in a row. At this point, I would not be surprised if my blog entries end up becoming a sort of food blog. And I need to watch my weight.
Just when we thought we would not be touching food again for the day, who comes back home but my uncle, who bought ice cream cake in celebration of my mom's birthday; and also, he just wanted to have some beer and snacks since it was a Sunday.
My aunt is horrible at organizing her fridge and it is almost at the point of bursting with months-old food, or what probably used to be food. This meant that there was no place to put the ice cream cake in the fridge, so we had to eat it, at 11PM. Alcohol party commence~
(No, I did not get drunk, as much as drunk blogging would have been hilarious.)
And now, another round of general situations and some thoughts to consider:
The rainy season is FINALLY over. Thank god. Now people can walk about the streets dry. The bad news is that the hot weather is back - and now I truly feel the Korean summer heat in all its humid sticky hotness.
Going to the military in Korea now apparently takes as much research and effort as it would to get into a prestigious high school. So much has changed and there are information that you wouldn't easily get unless you called the MMA.
Whenever I walk the streets with my glasses on, people automatically think I am a high school girl. My mom tells me it's because I look young, but I reckon it has more to do with how girls dress in Korea - simply put, almost no (unmarried) females older than high school students walk around wearing glasses unless it was a fashion statement. Most college-age girls are also not fat, and they actually primp and prettify themselves intensely since it's just about the first time they're allowed to do that after the hellish high school years, not to mention Korea is probably an appearance-conscious society like many Asian countries.
Continuing with the appearance-conscious society thing, being in Korea does make me take care of my appearance more compared to when I'm in Prague or Ann Arbor. Most everyone dresses nicely and they're all so pretty and polished-looking; simply put, my desire to not be the one slob among the crowd becomes greater than my general apathy towards style and "looking pretty".
This is something I've noticed for years, but the way my immediate family and several extended family members speak is a little... different from how other Korean people will speak. I'm a little hesitant to say there is a difference in "accent" because it's not a problem of dialect or vocabulary usage. It's more of a difference in intonation, perhaps, or how one uses one's nose and mouth in conjunction to the speaking. Simply put, most Korean girls, to me, sound a little nasally with a hint of a whine when they speak, like they're simultaneously swallowing bursts of air. The Korean guys, on the other hand, have a certain aggressive urgency in their voices, as if they're exhaling their words out violently before the words are fully formed. Meanwhile, me, my brother, mother, and a few people on both sides of my family speak more like news anchors on TV - every syllable and its pronunciations even in breath.
Now I must bed, for this household is a family of early bedtimes.
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Korea Day 8 and 9
Day 8
In which I translate a foster family-adoptee reunion.
The adoptee came with his parents from Denmark, and was quite lean and tall for a high school student. I would have described his face as plain on a good day, but he dressed very well and carried himself with a mature, graceful air that made him quite charming overall. I wish I could learn how to do that.
(All the while I kept thinking that Robert and Andrew would be all over his fashion sense)
Miss Yoonjoo (the not-me) called me over and said, "Younjoo (me), could you take them to the baby room downstairs and give them a tour, maybe play with the babies?"
Babies?
Oh god, I don't know what to do with babies; I never baby-sat (read: watch DVDs and occupy their attention span until dad's company function came back from grown-up socializing) anyone younger than walking, talking kids. I know I'm not going to take care of them or anything, but what do I do with them? I'm not particularly crazy about babies oh god-
As usual, I was worrying too much, and I just ended up translating and answering the familiy's questions, and we stayed there for a while d'awwing at the babies wobbling, playing, drinking milk and crawling. The guy would also have spent some time being taken care of by his foster mother like that, before he went to Denmark. Fortunately, he seemed to take it okay and even played with some of the babies.
The reunion with the foster family also went without much hassle. I translated their conversations back and forth and added some light chitchat in an attempt to make things not awkward. I realize I am really bad at trying to lighten up the mood and be all cheerful in any sort of social situation; my brain knows what to do but my mouth is too scared to act it out.
Later, they had dinner at a nearby restaurant, where we ate mandu, jeolgol, and makgeolli, a traditional rice wine.
It was the very first time that I tried makgeolli - and I liked it quite a bit. The consistency seems thick at first sight, but it's actually quite smooth, like soy milk or almond milk. The fermentation made it have a fizzy sensation like soda, and it tasted tangy and vaguely rice-like. The alcohol content wasn't all that high - I'm guessing it's probably similar to that of hard cider or light beer. I could see myself drinking more of this in the future.
Day 9
No translation, but we still had to do minor office work while everyone else was at the opening for Summer Camp. Paperwork and more paperwork ahoy.
Because nothing much worth of interesting blogging happened today, I decided that this would be a good opportunity to write down the impressions of Korea thus far.
The Positives:
1. MMM FOOD.
2. The overall atmosphere of Korea is 'exciting' - the urban areas, especially, seems to be constantly in anticipation of something exciting waiting to happen round the corner. This may only be me, though.
3. Relatives, and having no language barrier.
4. Public transit is actually decent and accessible, even with the occasional bus and subway hell.
5. TV is a lot of fun.
6. Things are cute and shiny and very distracting.
7. Everything is very modern and computerized.
8. I never realized this before, but Korean people seem to like to have things sweet as much as they like things spicy (not at the same time, though). I am fine with this.
The Negatives
1. You can see all the shortcomings of your own country very clearly when you haven't lived there in a while and see things from an objective POV.
2. The economy isn't doing well, and prices have hiked up on everything. It wasn't as if Korea's overall price rate was cheap to begin with. Sigh.
3. The overall mood - while it is exciting and energetic, too much energy can be tiring when all you want is to relax and chill. Again, this may only be me.
4. The requisite small-scale dramalings that comes with meeting relatives.
5. Everything is very modern and computerized - but at the same time, it shows no patience for "outdated" things - be it cell phones, subway tickets, or fashion trends. It basically forces everyone to follow "the hot new thing" and leaves basically no options for the old-fashioned people, both figuratively and literally.
6. Bus and subway hell is kind of unpleasant when it's hot out. Eww sticky people sandwich.
7. Sometimes the sugar level on some food is a bit much, especially on things like bread or coffee.
This is all for now; if there are more things I feel writing about, I shall add them in the future.
Meanwhile, having a sort of dual-culture brain made me see the things I considered normal to be potentially jarring and even shocking for others. Sometimes even I stopped to think, "wait, but why is this so?" at things that is taken as very normal and natural in Korea, no questions asked. From the trivial to the serious, here is a brief summary of such thoughts. (Yes, this is an abridged version.):
1. Some restaurants require you to take off your shoes at the entrance, and you leave your shoes there. The restaurant is not responsible for any potential shoe loss. No worries: everyone knows that wearing other people's shoes are icky. So unless you were wearing designer shoes worth someone's monthly salary or somebody who has the same shoes as you made a mistake, you do not need to worry about your shoes.
2. The bus drivers drive like crazy. I wish there was some effective way that it could get less crazy, but right now all I can think is, "deal with it".
3. Foreigners in Korea are still something you end up staring quite a bit at. Even I was staring at the occasional foreigners who were walking down the street. Yeah, yeah, globalization, whatever, but this is a largely monoethnic country and anyone not East Asian really stands out. Believe me, I feel like a gigantic hypocrite for thinking, "Foreigner!" - I've been on the receiving end of the "foreigner!" reaction most of my life. And yet I still do a double take when a non-Korean is around.
4. Personal space is kind of nonexistent. While walking back to the office with the foster family yesterday, the foster mother talked to me linking her arm in mine. We met for the first time that day. I personally don't mind this at all and am used to it, but I expect some non-Koreans may freak out.
5. Guys can be more intimate and touchy without the "GHEEEEY" stigma.
6. Society as a whole still seems to believe men and women are different creatures - not just biologically, but in terms of expected gender roles, discrimination, reverse-discrimination and the like. Battle of the sexes are kind of facepalm-inducing here.
7. Sadly, gay rights are kind of in text only and many people (even some political liberals) do not take it well even now. I have, however, seen several comedy acts lightly poking fun at homosexuality now. Gay as comedic factor might not be the best thing to have in media, but it's still refreshing to know that the public has taken the stick slightly out of their collective ass, even if only a centimeter. It's still nowhere near gay-friendly, though.
8. I never liked the whole "acting cute" thing in girls to begin with, but not having lived in Korea made me hate it even more. Feiqi, Ruixiao, remember when I laughed evilly at your reactions (read: screaming and flailing around) when you heard that actress interview of The Red Cliff? I heard this girl talk with that similar sort of cutesy voice and I had the impulse to punch a total stranger. I UNDERSTAND NOW, GUYS. I UNDERSTAND.
9. Did the quality of TV media deteriorate?
...and et cetera.
Long post is long. Whew.
In which I translate a foster family-adoptee reunion.
The adoptee came with his parents from Denmark, and was quite lean and tall for a high school student. I would have described his face as plain on a good day, but he dressed very well and carried himself with a mature, graceful air that made him quite charming overall. I wish I could learn how to do that.
Miss Yoonjoo (the not-me) called me over and said, "Younjoo (me), could you take them to the baby room downstairs and give them a tour, maybe play with the babies?"
Babies?
Oh god, I don't know what to do with babies; I never baby-sat (read: watch DVDs and occupy their attention span until dad's company function came back from grown-up socializing) anyone younger than walking, talking kids. I know I'm not going to take care of them or anything, but what do I do with them? I'm not particularly crazy about babies oh god-
As usual, I was worrying too much, and I just ended up translating and answering the familiy's questions, and we stayed there for a while d'awwing at the babies wobbling, playing, drinking milk and crawling. The guy would also have spent some time being taken care of by his foster mother like that, before he went to Denmark. Fortunately, he seemed to take it okay and even played with some of the babies.
The reunion with the foster family also went without much hassle. I translated their conversations back and forth and added some light chitchat in an attempt to make things not awkward. I realize I am really bad at trying to lighten up the mood and be all cheerful in any sort of social situation; my brain knows what to do but my mouth is too scared to act it out.
Later, they had dinner at a nearby restaurant, where we ate mandu, jeolgol, and makgeolli, a traditional rice wine.
Something like this, except it had beef instead of seafood.
It was the very first time that I tried makgeolli - and I liked it quite a bit. The consistency seems thick at first sight, but it's actually quite smooth, like soy milk or almond milk. The fermentation made it have a fizzy sensation like soda, and it tasted tangy and vaguely rice-like. The alcohol content wasn't all that high - I'm guessing it's probably similar to that of hard cider or light beer. I could see myself drinking more of this in the future.
Verdict: Delicious rice wine.
Day 9
No translation, but we still had to do minor office work while everyone else was at the opening for Summer Camp. Paperwork and more paperwork ahoy.
Because nothing much worth of interesting blogging happened today, I decided that this would be a good opportunity to write down the impressions of Korea thus far.
The Positives:
1. MMM FOOD.
2. The overall atmosphere of Korea is 'exciting' - the urban areas, especially, seems to be constantly in anticipation of something exciting waiting to happen round the corner. This may only be me, though.
3. Relatives, and having no language barrier.
4. Public transit is actually decent and accessible, even with the occasional bus and subway hell.
5. TV is a lot of fun.
6. Things are cute and shiny and very distracting.
7. Everything is very modern and computerized.
8. I never realized this before, but Korean people seem to like to have things sweet as much as they like things spicy (not at the same time, though). I am fine with this.
The Negatives
1. You can see all the shortcomings of your own country very clearly when you haven't lived there in a while and see things from an objective POV.
2. The economy isn't doing well, and prices have hiked up on everything. It wasn't as if Korea's overall price rate was cheap to begin with. Sigh.
3. The overall mood - while it is exciting and energetic, too much energy can be tiring when all you want is to relax and chill. Again, this may only be me.
4. The requisite small-scale dramalings that comes with meeting relatives.
5. Everything is very modern and computerized - but at the same time, it shows no patience for "outdated" things - be it cell phones, subway tickets, or fashion trends. It basically forces everyone to follow "the hot new thing" and leaves basically no options for the old-fashioned people, both figuratively and literally.
6. Bus and subway hell is kind of unpleasant when it's hot out. Eww sticky people sandwich.
7. Sometimes the sugar level on some food is a bit much, especially on things like bread or coffee.
This is all for now; if there are more things I feel writing about, I shall add them in the future.
Meanwhile, having a sort of dual-culture brain made me see the things I considered normal to be potentially jarring and even shocking for others. Sometimes even I stopped to think, "wait, but why is this so?" at things that is taken as very normal and natural in Korea, no questions asked. From the trivial to the serious, here is a brief summary of such thoughts. (Yes, this is an abridged version.):
1. Some restaurants require you to take off your shoes at the entrance, and you leave your shoes there. The restaurant is not responsible for any potential shoe loss. No worries: everyone knows that wearing other people's shoes are icky. So unless you were wearing designer shoes worth someone's monthly salary or somebody who has the same shoes as you made a mistake, you do not need to worry about your shoes.
2. The bus drivers drive like crazy. I wish there was some effective way that it could get less crazy, but right now all I can think is, "deal with it".
3. Foreigners in Korea are still something you end up staring quite a bit at. Even I was staring at the occasional foreigners who were walking down the street. Yeah, yeah, globalization, whatever, but this is a largely monoethnic country and anyone not East Asian really stands out. Believe me, I feel like a gigantic hypocrite for thinking, "Foreigner!" - I've been on the receiving end of the "foreigner!" reaction most of my life. And yet I still do a double take when a non-Korean is around.
4. Personal space is kind of nonexistent. While walking back to the office with the foster family yesterday, the foster mother talked to me linking her arm in mine. We met for the first time that day. I personally don't mind this at all and am used to it, but I expect some non-Koreans may freak out.
5. Guys can be more intimate and touchy without the "GHEEEEY" stigma.
6. Society as a whole still seems to believe men and women are different creatures - not just biologically, but in terms of expected gender roles, discrimination, reverse-discrimination and the like. Battle of the sexes are kind of facepalm-inducing here.
7. Sadly, gay rights are kind of in text only and many people (even some political liberals) do not take it well even now. I have, however, seen several comedy acts lightly poking fun at homosexuality now. Gay as comedic factor might not be the best thing to have in media, but it's still refreshing to know that the public has taken the stick slightly out of their collective ass, even if only a centimeter. It's still nowhere near gay-friendly, though.
8. I never liked the whole "acting cute" thing in girls to begin with, but not having lived in Korea made me hate it even more. Feiqi, Ruixiao, remember when I laughed evilly at your reactions (read: screaming and flailing around) when you heard that actress interview of The Red Cliff? I heard this girl talk with that similar sort of cutesy voice and I had the impulse to punch a total stranger. I UNDERSTAND NOW, GUYS. I UNDERSTAND.
9. Did the quality of TV media deteriorate?
...and et cetera.
Long post is long. Whew.
Monday, July 11, 2011
Korea Day 7
Holt:
It's raining nonstop. It's been raining all week since we arrived.
The southern parts of Korea is flooded, even.
Can we please, please stop with the rain?
That being said, my brother and I still went to our second day of work. Somehow, we were asked to come at 11AM instead of the usual 1PM. I hoped that commuting just slightly after rush hour would make the bus and metro less crowded, but no such luck. Seoul has way too many humans for public transit to be empty between 9:30~10:40 AM.
We translated stuff, yadda yadda yadda. I'm sure it'll be boring if I keep on bringing up the fact that we're translating, so I'll keep it short. It was a few days before the adoptee summer camp, so the staff were busy sorting things and preparing for the opening ceremony.
As a result, we were often stopped at the middle of white-collar work (translating) in order to carry out blue-collar work (such as cutting paper and pasting them, sorting pens and notepads into goodie bags, counting the number of bags, putting stickers on name tags, rolling up banners, folding pamphlets, counting them...) - and when we got through that, there were more stuff waiting to be translated. Because you know, FREE LABOR!
I'm not complaining here - we came here to help, and we're giving help. I just wonder how the staff get through it all when there isn't any extra people around. They seem all out of breath and perpetually panicking even with two translators and part-menial laborers.
At least we got free lunch out of this.
Siblings bicker and talk about nerdy things:
Summary: I currently watch an animated series called Tiger and Bunny. My brother teases me about it. I tell him bits and pieces of the show to try tobrainwash get him to watch the series with me. He just ends up teasing me more.
"So why is the guy called Bunny?"
"Because his helmet has pointy ends at the side of his head like rabbit ears. So the
partner calls him 'bunny-chan'."
"Buuuuuuunny chaaaaaaaan."
"Oh my god, stop that, that is creepy."
"Buuuuuuunny chaaaaaaaan."
"Stop it."
"Why?"
"The way you say it makes me fear for my life."
"Why would you fear for your life? I'm just saying it funny."
"It's not funny, it's creepy."
"Buuuuuuunny chaaaaaaaan."
"It just makes me wanna say, 'Gaaah, run away, Bunny!'"
"It does not sound creepy. Here, I'll say this in the same voice; Younjoo is an idiooooot."
"That's not creepy, that's just annoying."
"It's the same voice."
"Well, that's not creepy because it's something you always say. When you say 'Buuuuuuunny chaaaaaaaan', it sounds like you're going to rape him."
"What, no."
"Yes, that's what it sounds like."
"Buuuuuuunny chaaaaaaaan."
"..."
"Buuuuuuunny chaaaaaaaan."
"..."
"Did you give up now?"
"No, I'm just exhasperated."
"Buuuuuuunny chaaaaaaaan."
"...Argh."
"Hahahahaha."
"Are you going to keep on teasing me?"
"Yes, because you freak out and it's funny."
"Does this mean you'll watch the show?"
"No."
"Why not? It's fun. Let's go home and watch the first few episodes."
"No."
"Watch, watch, waaaatch."
"I don't want to. I already know how it is because you told me everything. Why should I watch it when I can tease you about it from the sidelines?"
"So you're going to tease me without ever having watched the show?"
"Yes, it's more entertaining that way."
"Waaaaach the shoooooow!"
"Buuuuuuunny chaaaaaaaan."
"Sigh."
It's raining nonstop. It's been raining all week since we arrived.
The southern parts of Korea is flooded, even.
Can we please, please stop with the rain?
That being said, my brother and I still went to our second day of work. Somehow, we were asked to come at 11AM instead of the usual 1PM. I hoped that commuting just slightly after rush hour would make the bus and metro less crowded, but no such luck. Seoul has way too many humans for public transit to be empty between 9:30~10:40 AM.
We translated stuff, yadda yadda yadda. I'm sure it'll be boring if I keep on bringing up the fact that we're translating, so I'll keep it short. It was a few days before the adoptee summer camp, so the staff were busy sorting things and preparing for the opening ceremony.
As a result, we were often stopped at the middle of white-collar work (translating) in order to carry out blue-collar work (such as cutting paper and pasting them, sorting pens and notepads into goodie bags, counting the number of bags, putting stickers on name tags, rolling up banners, folding pamphlets, counting them...) - and when we got through that, there were more stuff waiting to be translated. Because you know, FREE LABOR!
I'm not complaining here - we came here to help, and we're giving help. I just wonder how the staff get through it all when there isn't any extra people around. They seem all out of breath and perpetually panicking even with two translators and part-menial laborers.
At least we got free lunch out of this.
Siblings bicker and talk about nerdy things:
Summary: I currently watch an animated series called Tiger and Bunny. My brother teases me about it. I tell him bits and pieces of the show to try to
"So why is the guy called Bunny?"
"Because his helmet has pointy ends at the side of his head like rabbit ears. So the
partner calls him 'bunny-chan'."
"Buuuuuuunny chaaaaaaaan."
"Oh my god, stop that, that is creepy."
"Buuuuuuunny chaaaaaaaan."
"Stop it."
"Why?"
"The way you say it makes me fear for my life."
"Why would you fear for your life? I'm just saying it funny."
"It's not funny, it's creepy."
"Buuuuuuunny chaaaaaaaan."
"It just makes me wanna say, 'Gaaah, run away, Bunny!'"
"It does not sound creepy. Here, I'll say this in the same voice; Younjoo is an idiooooot."
"That's not creepy, that's just annoying."
"It's the same voice."
"Well, that's not creepy because it's something you always say. When you say 'Buuuuuuunny chaaaaaaaan', it sounds like you're going to rape him."
"What, no."
"Yes, that's what it sounds like."
"Buuuuuuunny chaaaaaaaan."
"..."
"Buuuuuuunny chaaaaaaaan."
"..."
"Did you give up now?"
"No, I'm just exhasperated."
"Buuuuuuunny chaaaaaaaan."
"...Argh."
"Hahahahaha."
"Are you going to keep on teasing me?"
"Yes, because you freak out and it's funny."
"Does this mean you'll watch the show?"
"No."
"Why not? It's fun. Let's go home and watch the first few episodes."
"No."
"Watch, watch, waaaatch."
"I don't want to. I already know how it is because you told me everything. Why should I watch it when I can tease you about it from the sidelines?"
"So you're going to tease me without ever having watched the show?"
"Yes, it's more entertaining that way."
"Waaaaach the shoooooow!"
"Buuuuuuunny chaaaaaaaan."
"Sigh."
Korea Day 3, 4, 5
Day 3
The entire day could be summarized as thus – YJS eats.
It was truly a day of eating, and I now worry that I would leave Korea with a distended digestive system and newly acquired rolls of fat by the end of the month.
For lunch, my mom, aunt, grandmother, cousin, and brother went to a Gamjatang restaurant for lunch. My brother and grandmother had spicy squid while the rest of us ordered Bbyeo-haejang-guk (for the easily intimidated by strange jumbles of letters, it means bone hangover-relief soup). It’s a spicy soup with chunks of pork neck bones inside. It was quite delicious, and a good lunch choice in the cold, rainy weather. It was exceedingly spicy, however, and by the end of lunch, everyone was sweating profusely.
After taking a break, my mom and brother, my cousin and I went to E-Mart for some serious grocery shopping spree, since my mom was going to be in charge of meals during our one-month stay.
The great thing about (large) Korean supermarket is that they have a sample section for food. Yes, I know other countries have sample stands for food as well; call me biased, but the stuff they have for samples are tastier.
The food selection that day certainly was in the tasty side: grilled fish, pork, beef patties, roasted duck, tofu with sesame and peanut salad dressing, ice cream, yogurt, and there’s probably more that I’ve forgotten by the time I write this. Since we were in charge of babysitting our little cousin, who was as energetic as a beagle, we followed him all around the food aisle as he raced up and down and tried everything. By the end of the grocery shopping, I’m sure I could just have substituted what I ate with an actual meal.
Day 4
The first day of work at Holt. This time, my brother was there as well. We took the 90-minute trip to Holt Post Adoption Center.
The office was crazy busy as always; workers running to and fro, phones ringing every five minutes, the endless clickedy-click of computers and the whirring of fax and printers.
Everyone seemed the same. Philippe with his French-accented Korean, the Michigan alum Esther with her constant English-Korean code-switching, Ms. Lee, Ms. Seol, and the head of office, Ms. Kim. There are also one or two new faces that I do not know.
There was a warm welcome, and then a pile of letters to translate. “We’d ask you to come every day if we could!” they said. We could have, if it didn’t take us a whopping 90 minutes to get to the office via bus and subway. We’re here to work, yes, but we do need a life, too.
In the span of four hours (and an hour total of bathroom breaks, mini-breaks, and waiting for the staff to not be too busy to give us work), My brother ended up translating four letters and I did ten. This roughly amounts to half an hour per letter.
“You’re a monster! How did you do that?!” he exclaimed.
I’m not quite sure myself; somehow a month’s worth of experience last year had apparently made me into an almost automatic translating machine. Even I was surprised at how fast I was processing Korean to English and vice versa. Well, that’s the first time I've felt competent in months.
Day 5
We went to Times Square shopping mall.
Stealing a landmark name of NYC aside, the main reason we went there was because it was a new shopping mall; the go-to place for shopping and hanging out is supposed to be Coex Mall in Seoul, but not only is it too far from where we are, but apparently Times Square was supposed to be just as grand and fancy.
To get straight to the point, it was big and fancy, but it wasn't as awesome.
We played at the arcade, ate lunch, and I went window-shopping (and actual shopping) with my mom while the boys played in the arcade some more.
Fun meter: 3/5. It’s a good place to go shopping and eat something in-between, but there is nothing much else to do. Additionally the place was too goddamned hard to locate from the subway station since the signs were unreliable and the passageway convoluted.
It's raining on and on and on and god dammit, it needs to stop.
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
Korea Day 1&2
The plane flight to Korea was relatively peaceful; the plane had good food (bibimbap and green tea porridge, yeah!), mediocre movie selections, great documentary sections, and a packet of toothbrush, toothpaste, and slippers to use in the plane, which I very gladly made of use.
The good news was that the weather was not as hot when we arrived. Since it was the middle of rainy season and had been raining nonstop, the few sunny days ended up being in the lower to mid 20s, despite the humidity. Hey, I’m fine with less sweat running down my entire body.
Unfortunately, that’s about the only thing I can say about the first day. After an early dinner and family reunion, my mom, brother and I promptly fell asleep and stayed that way until the next morning.
Day 2:
Since the main objective was to translate and work at the Holt Children’s Center, we took our 90-minute commute once more to adjust working hours.
Recognition, enthusiastic welcome, and more enthusiastic welcome. I was surprised that they remembered me from last year and was all happy that I came back to work again. I know I’m supposed to be working for the good of the community, but goddamn it, I think I’ll recharge my ego meter while I’m here.
After settling schedules, we headed to my (paternal) grandmother and uncle’s house, where we stayed for dinner and chatted and all that general merriment. Well, as merry as grownups in a conservative and formal household engaging in general merriment can be.
My grandmother and uncle, as usual, tried to offer us plenty of sweet food, including watermelon, wafers, yogurt and ice cream (which we politely declined). I swear, I am going to develop diabetes from all the food they offer us.
My grandmother and uncle, as usual, tried to offer us plenty of sweet food, including watermelon, wafers, yogurt and ice cream (which we politely declined). I swear, I am going to develop diabetes from all the food they offer us.
Korea is currently enthralled (read: batshit insane) with having Pyeongchang as the host for the 2018 Winter Olympics, whose results would be announced in about half an hour from the time I am typing this. This entire day all three official television channels have been having “special programs” about Pyeongchang, with guest star performances, street interviews, uplifting speeches and patriotic comments full of “Pyeongchang, Hwaiting!” “Korea, Hwaiting!”. Cue BGM of We are the Champions. Did I mention that this is the third time they’ve tried to host the Winter Olympics?
Seriously, with all the special broadcast and news articles and cheery hopefulness, you’d think they already were nominated as the host city. The cynic in me only wonders what they’d do with themselves if Pyeongchang doesn’t make it. After all, they’re competing against contenders such as Munich and Annecy. Can’t they wait for festivities after they know who’s hosting the Olympics?
I love my country, but I swear to god they can get overboard with enthusiasm sometimes. It’s like how a daughter cringes over her lovable but goofy dad who is cheering way too loud at a tournament and is telling everyone in that loud, obnoxious voice that his little girl is sure to win first place because she’s awesome like that, and he even has the drinks ready to celebrate her obvious victory.
Meanwhile, behind the backlight of my laptop in the dark, dark house (everyone is tired and went to bed), we (or physically, just me) all wait with bated breath.
Oh man, the IOC is going to announce the winner now.
And the host for the 2018 Winter Olympics is…
…Pyeongchang.
Oh hey, we did win. After twelve freaking years of trying to host it. Well, good. Now Korea can finally drop the “trying to host the Winter Olympics for the third freaking time” thing. I know I should probably sound happier or more patriotic, but alas, I am a cynic to the end; all I’m thinking is “Fucking finally, we can get this over with”.
I am glad, though. Asia can use more Winter Olympics, after all. And there is something kind of poignant and touching about trying and trying, and trying again without giving up to finally achieve one’s goal.
Good night, everybody!
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