cinco!!

Five days. New country, program, friends. Damn.

Costco bulgogi bake, family gathering, visit town of childhood memories, hair change, dentist, dinners-- think that's a good way to end it. Heh





AHCANTBELIEVEIT
4moremonthsandImgonnarenewmymindset


good day,
ellie

*

How would my life look like without You?

I would be beat.
lost in my definition of success and humanity
resounding in anger
ignorant about right and wrong
calloused, insensitive
seeing the end of the road within 80 years,
living life to my own fullest.

Continue to breathe Life into me Lord..

Find your passion

Took a bus ride to Seoul National University today just for the heck of it. Around 40 minutes. Unfamiliar environment and faces. Needed this 'newness.'

When I got to the campus, one word accurately described the setting--dry. As the grass turns brown and shrivels when no water is sprayed, as the throat cries out for liquid when one walks amidst the wind for some time, as a guy drags his feet to fetch the soccer ball his friend had kicked afar--so was the campus dry.

One striking thing that I remember is that I didn't see any couples! This indeed is a striking observation, because in Korea, you can't take too many steps without spotting a couple. Another observation made on the way back: nearby, there was a small town for the students to relax and get some air (food), and on a huge building was a banner that read, "울지마라. 외로우니까 사람이다." This was way too hilarious. These guys need a constant reminder that they are indeed humans, not robots who study all day. So depressing...

Recently I read several fb statuses from students from prestigious univs in korea expressing their confusion or lack of motivation to study let alone live. Wow talk about hopelessness! Most of their life goals from early age is to "just study hard" to get into these 3 schools, and once they get in, only then do they question their purpose in life. Unjust way of culture to entrap kids but a sad reality.


Education is not everything; respect goes out to those who live by passion and purpose, not by mere standards.

steadfast

One more full week. No use of trudging feet now. Must. conquer.! Things are coming to an end slowly yet surely. Done with certain commitments now. Before even completing finals, overwhelming thoughts of break and beyond complicate me once again. Noo.. take it step by step. Live one day at a time. Phew.

Note:

Advice when the temperature falls close to or below freezing point:

• Tuck in your undershirt
• Wear tights under jeans.. even guys
• Always wear or carry a scarf
• Don't go out with undried hair
• Think and recite hot terms like jacuzzi, repeatedly
• And if that doesn't work, just don't go out. Hibernate.

Been coiling up in my bed, sleeping for about 14 hours daily drugged up to rid of this cold I got from not wearing enough warm clothes.  Miserable stuff.... but a gracious reminder to drop the pride.  Acknowledge my true weakness without God...

more to come

FKN DONE WITH PROJECT~!
AND SICK~!

discussing and working on a project with locals is one tough job

Minimalism

Love simplicity in design. Just cleaned up my desktop and put a new layout to it. Actually I just dumped everything that was on my desktop to my "everything" folder. Will clean up soon though. =)

There is something so refreshing and renewing about the concept of eliminating the waste and accentuating the essentials. I'll get smacked if I apply this to relationships... so I won't go too into that. But the couple months I've spent across the P.O. have allowed me to recognize and come to value even more the friendships that have been so dear. I thank You, and you, for these relationships I am blessed with. I am also excited for the new ones to come, whether from the past or years forth.

Essentials... what exactly are my essentials in life?

No more November'11

December is coming! In about 4 hours Seoul time.  November seemed so long.  It started off with a nice vacation to the mountains and is going to end with some studying and mellow music by Meiko.

Less than 3 weeks before the semester ends, and I cannot wait.  Korea has been a surreal time with some good moments.  Sometimes I hated it and sometimes it was nice.  Nonetheless, I've become more understanding of fobs (though I still abhor scenes of girls selca-ing with pouted lips and two fingers up) and the Korean heritage that had been driving relationships back home.  

Got offered a single room during my prospective stay at NUS! Currently I'm living with a Chinese roommate whom I don't converse with anymore because all she did was add laughter to whatever I asked.  At first it seemed friendly but now it's lost its sincerity so we just don't talk, which is totally fine.  Looking forward to having my own room again.

そつぎょうしたら、アジアにきたいですが、かんこくはちょっと。。。

平安

No class, Indian food with prof, biking at Hangang in 40F, Galbitang and Bulgogi, holiday orchestra; 40 minute shortcut bus ride to Ilsan first to visit family and second just because,  Lake Park, Jeon and Makguli; Jubilee and Japan

Sums up an unforgettable, spontaneous, relaxing yet convicting weekend.

There are 2 ways to look at every situation.  You either look at it positively or negatively.

Interesting how everyone interprets differently.  Some mock it, others embrace it, and still there are those who abhor it.  Cynicism leads to bitterness.  Humility leads to gratitude.  Pride leads to well, pride.

And no, ignorance isn't the same as choosing to be amused.

4 weeks left

Just when cold sores start to heal and things seem to mellow out, life proves me otherwise.  Shifting of plans, tightened deadlines, arise of new events.  Time to let spontaneity take over.  Chill out cause things never turn out the way I planned them anyway.

Good news: coat is keeping me alive in this below freezing point weather


Been eating some good food lately and thankful for them-

Homemade lunch. Thanks mom for the inspiration

First meal with sister ever Lol 불찜닭

some Feast with mk on a rainy night

some other Feast by our program for Thanksgiving

Am reminded that I can plan my roadtrip however way I want, but I'm not in the driver's seat. Hah

Lantern Festival

Seoul, Korea 2011

started off with 명동칼국수

haha this game

some crazy fire breathing peacock..

Fleeting

http://edition.cnn.com/2011/11/16/world/asia/china-bus-crash/index.html?hpt=ias_c2

Case of the mass murder... yikes.

Demilitarized Zone

Brief history- the DMZ runs across the 38th parallel that divides the Korean peninsula in two.  After the Japanese surrender to the Allies during WWII, Korea was occupied by the Soviets in the North and the US in the South.  With the rise of Cold War tensions, two respective governments (communist in the north and democracy in the south) formed in the peninsula.  In 1950, NK attacked SK and there began the Korean War.  To resolve the war, US aided the South and China the North, eventually creating the 38th parallel to divide the nation in half and create peace.



Nov. 12, 2011- First, we crossed the Imjingak and Freedom Bridge on a bus and then went underground through the Infiltration Tunnel (3rd one).  This was one of the 4 tunnels dug by the North Koreans to attack SK back in the days.  So with our yellow helmets on, we went inside and through the tunnel (helmets were extremely useful as the rocks of the tunnel were low and dripping with water).  Then we reached the 3rd blockade; that means we were only 170m away from NK! That's around 0.1 mile.

After that, we went to the Dora Observatory where we were able to use binoculars after paying 500 won to look out into the Demilitarized Zone as well as parts of North Korea if you were lucky with the weather.  Saw residential areas, all looking exactly the same o_o.  Heard if the weather's REALLY on your side, then you can even see a statue of Kim Il-Sung (as there are thousands of them).

Then we went to the Dorasan Station, a train station they call, "Last station from the South" or in positive light, "First station to the North."

Before heading back, we passed through the Unification Village, a village where families reside solely for the purpose of raising crops, specifically ginseng, rice, and soybean.  And these are royal crops. Expensive.  Top-quality.  Oh, the families also have curfews.

strange, abandoned(?) amusement park near DMZ

Guards posted to watch any trespassers.  And yes, they will shoot.

mascot of the SK army. Lol 

we're not really happy..

Barbed wire everywhere

also mine warnings everywhere

If only we could put this to use..!

Dreams do come true?  Plan halted as of now.

with South Korean soldiers.

Been learning about the Six Party Talks through EA classes this semester.  It's real interesting how differently the politics and economies, as well as reputations, of NK and SK have turned out since the divide.  It's also disturbing to have realized that it's mere luck that I'm born a South Korean and not the other... 

Daije

The renovated Library here beats all Ive seen so far.  Felt like a museum or something.

addicted and concerned

An encounter

Met another 10 year old boy through volunteer tutor at a Christian private elementary school.  Now this boy was a jolly one, it was just evident in his face the moment we met.  It just happened that I grabbed a book on Noah's Ark before starting.  He was excited when he saw the book cause he had read about the story before.  So I asked him if he goes to church and he said no. So we shoo the topic and finished reading.  When we were heading back to the rest of the group, he was so excited that he had read about something he had read in the "sungyung" before (something about Korean words convey such a deeper meaning).  I asked if he goes to church again, and he said no, and told me he reads the Bible cause it's fun.

So much can happen within 10 years.

Got lots to learn

Airfare: Check
Housing: Check
Friend: Check

STOKED FOR SGP
JUST 7 MORE WEEKS

A Day that lives only One Day

Today, I

-Got corrected by my Japanese professor on my Korean. 서락산>설악산ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ I knew it I promise I knew it!
-Got my tutee unnie a pepero gift
-Talked to a stranger to book a bus ride and it was a nice convo
-Got a pepero gift and photo from Uceap
-Was cranky in the morning
-Was cranky at night
-Was fine in between
-Got a pepero gift from my best friend from Singapore
-Got hooked on International relations
-Didn't get to see 11:11 11/11/11 on a clock. Fail
-Lived under His sovereignty


Tomorrow, I

-Will be going as close as I can to North Korea
-Will be able to apply my unintentionally taken courses on NK/movies I watched about NK to reality
-Anticipate awakening

The Gospel

Bondage to Sin
His Love
Bridge to Righteousness
Life in Christ

Raining Leaves

Reading other people's blogs makes me so happy. So with that and a few comments from good friends telling me to blog some more, I am here once again.

Fall colors have almost faded now that winter is near.  Trees are starting to look bare and cold x_x and it really affects the mood.  Yeah so grabbed a few friends and went on a trip to Seoraksan (one of the popular mts if not the most in korea) this past weekend.  Break from Seoul pt. III!

Took 3 hrs to get there, spent around $140 total for one night two days.  Made it just in time for the remaining fall foliage right before the rain =) Trip was pretty interesting, considering that each of the persons who went was from a different country (singapore netherlands germany canada korea).  So I got to learn abt different economies, living expenses, transportation, and even tax rates from these regions.  Pretty cool

Ok although I cant get enough of food, here are other pics...

*Most of the pics were taken by others

So even though it drizzled a bit, had a good time hiking, eating at the harbour sijang, having unintentional soju/snack overload, riding cable car in the thick fog, hiking some more on top of the peak- all with good company!  Thanks guys if you're reading!

Omoshiroi

To put a smile on another is a beautiful thing.



So is fall foliage.

What a busy, fun, crazy, eventful, confusing weekend...

4 months down, 6 more to go. It's hard to believe I won't be returning to the place I call home, where my friends and immediate family live, until 6 months later.  At the same time, living in my very motherland where I first tasted breath kind of feels nice.  Rekindling relationships with my cousins and relatives have definitely spiced up my stay here... especially being the younger one and being taken care of.  Not only through family, but I have encountered and deepened friendships with older people through extracurricular activities in this very community-oriented place called Korea.

I oftentimes find myself feeling so fortunate for having learned English in its native land.  It has opened up opportunities to teach as well as options of where to reside after graduation.  Never before have I realized how great of an impact the fluency of the most-spoken-language-in-the-world could have on one's path.  To some, it is just a set of words that gets them through daily activities and interactions; yet it is a language that unites all kinds of ethnicity, whether spoken in broken pieces or arranged in fancy sentences.  

Beauty of the most seemingly given abilities;

Embraced.

bpo

http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/asiapcf/10/25/country.comparisons.population/index.html

Woah China's population really does surpass all others; didn't think it would be as much as 4x that of US especially with their one-child policy that's been implemented for the past 30 years...CRazy!

But India? Bangladesh? Indonesia?! Woah...

Perhaps getting married to a Chinese man will indeed become common by that age Lol

7 Days of October

1. Busan Trip

Epic experience of transportation to and from Haewundae, Busan x_x.  Had to run my arse off and sit in the subway for 40 minutes only to be 5 minutes short from departure time.  The next day I tried again.  This time I got on and *coughcough enjoyed my 5.5 hrs in the seat.  Coming back was also pretty hectic getting kicked out of the subway and finding a cab in the rain at midnight...

Bus ride in the rain~

Shinsagae Dept. Store

My 외숙모/외삼촌 bought LA galbi cause I was from LA. Awww yummy bfast. Who knew plain yogurt would be the perfect dressing for fruit salad?

View from apt. Beach is so close!

Nice walk with my 외숙모 keke

해운대

Came here quite often for a 1박2일 trip

고속버스 ^_^ Seats are actually much bigger and nicer than ones in airplanes + footrest. Thus 5.5 hr ride wasn't too bad.

Overall, trip was a much needed refreshment.  Learned a whole lot about myself forsure.  Also glad to have family who lives near the Beach.  Love the water~

2. Hangout with PJoe and Caleb

Pretty cool to have a reunion abroad! It was real nice seeing both their faces and enjoying one anothers' company in a foreign country... or should I say home..

oh not to mention, we watched an interactive show and it was one of the funniest I've seen. Mashmallow

3. Seoul Tour

MK and I, being natively Korean, decided to tour around Seoul like foreigners.  It was pretty fun haha. Got off the first stop and walked around everywhere. 

looked exactly like forbidden city

minions at King Sejong Museum

Remember when I posted up egg waffles from hk? well this is the Korean version, "hodu gwaja" Bomb.

view from outside 덕수궁, another palace we visited

Crossing the 청계천. I swear Seoul is like a 부대찌개 there's all kinds of stuff in one area!

(this is 부대찌개, soup-based meal that contains every possible ingredient and still tastes great)

this beanie makes my head look like a mushroom...

Doesn't it look packed? And in the midst of tall city buildings, a stream flows... Interesting!

Many cafes look like this

해물칼국수 so good in cold weather

Business town of Seoul SO different from College towns

streets of 명동

Green tea ice cream in the cold~

Chillin with the 한글. Tired too

Oh and tonight our program took us to a Bibap show.  Beatboxing, opera, musical, cooking, drama, bboying--- all in one! I love shows in Korea.