Friend, brother, son, uncle, educator, relative, reader, talker, blogger, technologist, acquaintance, oxygen user, latte drinker..........ME! ... witty (I've been told), opinionated (I've really been told) , well-read, and with a healthy dose of sarcasm. iTeach, iRead, iLive, iLearn.
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
1st Day of Christmas
Anyways, I’m excited. Tomorrow is Korea’s Christmas Eve, and even though I’ll spend all day suspended in the air, I get to spend American Christmas Eve at home in LA. How I miss thee and all the people you house.
What’s cool is that packing was easy, just the shopping bags and souvenirs. It’s all stuff I can dump out and not have to repack. Can’t wait to have my American goodies.
It all won’t feel real to me until I have a Starbucks Venti Soy Eggnog Latte in one hand and a Chipotle chicken burrito with medium green and medium corn salsa. It’ll taste like home.
Because my friends are the people (next to my family of course) that I want to see the most, here’s a song that is applicable. The #1 Christmas song for me this year.
#1- Phoebe Buffay’s Christmas Song from “Friends”
Sunday, December 19, 2010
Missions: Accomplished!/ 2nd Day of Christmas
I feel very accomplished! I now get to relax and enjoy my remaining days in SK before my trip home.
Thursday, December 16, 2010
Ho Ho Ho Holy Los Angeles Pt. 2/ 3rd Day of Christmas
Friday Dec. 24th- It's Christmas Eve, so family time
Saturday Dec. 25th- It's Christmas, more family time
Sunday Dec. 26th- Holiday Dinner @ San Antonio Winery with friends
Monday Dec. 27th- Disneyland (rain or shine) and Downtown Disney at night
Tuesday Dec. 28th- Lunch with Nick and Pati & Dinner at Ra in Torrance for Happy Hour
Wednesday Dec. 29th- Pho with Phoebes
Thursday Dec. 30th- TBA (nothing thus far)
Friday Dec. 31st to Jan. 2nd- Las Vegas
Monday Jan. 3rd- Lunch near DH with Maria & Suzy
Tuesday Jan. 4th- TBA (nothing thus far)
Wednesday Jan. 5th- Lunch at Sylvan
Thursday Jan. 6- Friday Jan. 7th- TBA (nothing thus far)
Saturday Jan. 8th- I've got a flight back to SK to catch!
Like I told Claude, if you thought you were spending time with your family these holidays, CANCEL IT, I'm your family now!
Some of the things I'm planning on doing on this list are short, so I'm sure I'll have time during the rest of the day to do things with you all.
See you next week LA!
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#3- Linkin Park's "My December"
Fes Pt.2/ 4th Day of Christmas
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Making Order in Chaos/5th Day of Christmas
Sunday, December 12, 2010
6th Day of Christmas
Still planning my time in LA, have to plan wisely to make sure I spend a sufficient amount of time with everyone. Also have to plan what I'm taking. Tons to do
#6- Paulina Rubio's "Joy To The World"
Saturday, December 11, 2010
7th Day of Christmas
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Have you hugged your caffeine today? / 8th Day of Christmas
Thursday, December 2, 2010
The Question Part 3 / 9th Day of Christmas
1- I will feel that this visit will make me feel that this year will be very much survivable and that visits like these will allow me to catch up with everyone.
2- I will totally miss everything about home and will try to find a job in LA, or California, or somewhere in the continental 48 states,
We shall see. Stay tuned. But of course I am not the only one who thinks about this. Like clockwork about 4 times a week I get asked by different people if I’m going to renew. No joke. These people are from different aspects of my life and they surely enough find a way to ask me. Need proof? Here are two pictures from 2 different IM conversations on my Facebook, one from my friend Lizzy from high school and the other from a friend Carolyn from the US Base here in Songtan. Both were asked within 24 hours.
So yes, stay tuned.
In the meantime here goes song number 9, a holiday classic in many homes and iPods.
#9- Mariah Carey's "All I Want For Christmas Is You"
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
10th Day of Christmas
So close to being home, the countdown is now in days!!!
Speaking of countdowns, song #10 is here, a song about a major countdown, New Year's Eve!
#10- Fey's "Un Ano Mas"
Sunday, November 28, 2010
11th Day of Christmas
I think everyone in the existence of ever should watch this video, especially what comes after 1:55.
#11- Straight No Chaser's "12 Days of Christmas"
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
12th Day of Christmas
At #12 is Destiny's Child's "Opera of the Bells"
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
"Kim Jong Not-So-ILL" -Amy Poehler
Sunday, November 21, 2010
"We never thought that we'd get caught up stuck in a teenage waste" -N. Furtado
It’s so funny because people still act like they did when they were in high school, people treat you like you’re still in high school, and high school just has a way of creeping in on you when you least expect it (for instance, halfway across the world, just as a hypothetical situation of course).
So a couple of things have happened to bring this topic to my attention (obviously). First one happened with the only two people that I REALLY still talk to from high school. Granted, I have friends from high school on my Facebook friends list, but aside from and occasional comment back and forth, I don’t ever plan to see them. So these 2 friends of mine and I, along with other involved individuals had altercations with 2 other people during our senior year of high school. Seems like those 2 people just got a Facebook (side note: barely?) and have decided to add us, but not both at the same time. One requested me, while the other requested my other 2 friends. Comprende? Well this led to a big can of teenage worms to open up and even an exchange of countless messages as well as a wall post that hit the 50+ comment mark (I think that’s some kind of record). After talking and evaluating the situation with one another, no action has yet to be taken.
The next thing that has happened came upon and observation made by one of those people from high school I only comment back and forth sporadically as mentioned earlier. (WARNING: this portion of the post gets pretty nostalgic) He went to our high school, which is currently under reconstruction, and mentioned how none of our magnet teachers, except for Mr. Aldrich, are there anymore. Well it seemed weird that his first visit came 8 years after our graduation. But yes, many of the teachers we had are long gone. Ms. Hurst (my Algebra 2 and AP Calculus teacher) left right after I actually interviewed her for a paper during my first semester of college. I can’t remember what quite happened to her. Mr. Cook (Chem and AP Physics) was fired for obvious reasons…..***cough**** rum ***cough***. Mr. Aldrich (World History and AP US History) is still there, Lizzy and I talked to him a great deal when we visited a few times together. Now the English teachers, they hold a special place. Mr. Odegaard (who taught me English in grades 9, 11, and 12th) was an awesome teacher. In retrospect, we probably had too much freedom, but I read a lot of my favorite books in his class. During my undergrad and credential classes I would visit him often to get my observation hours signed off. It was at that time that he was starting a business with his wife to sell a hemp-based fashion line at Fred Seigel’s, not too shabby. So that’s probably why he’s gone, to start that venture. Ms. Pilon, one of the most passionate people for English and my 10th grade teacher, is the one teacher I’ve actually had a strong rapport with. Aside from being my teacher, I was also her service student, and she hired my friend and I for the summer to help her move into the Department Chair classroom because she had been moved up. After high school, I also went to her class for observations during my undergrad and credential classes. THEN, I actually had a graduate course with her while working on my Master’s. She was getting a library concentration in her degree because she wanted to be a librarian (much like her sister). But now she is teaching at another school, and really enjoys it. I’m happy for her.
But there was always one teacher who had a special place in everyone’s backpack in high school. Mr. Footlick, my Bio teacher, and the one teacher who pushed his students, used to tell it like it is, and would joke around with everyone. I used to hear about his retirement when I was 15, and when I recently heard he no longer works there, I wondered if he finally went through with it. Good for him, he’s earned it.
Thirdly and lastly, another event that has tapped into the teenage me has happened with my family. It’s nothing major but it was one of those moments when I always end up saying, “I may still look like a high school student, but you guys do know I’m 26, have 2 degrees, and live in another country because of my job……right?!” In retrospect, this is also pretty hilarious.
Well to the teenage me, I hope to bid you ado, but know that’s impossible.
Friday, November 19, 2010
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Ho Ho Holy Los Angeles
So here's the deal for my coming to Los Angeles during the holidays. If you are friends, PLEASE feel free to join me in partaking in these events, I want to see your faces!!!!! I'm an A-type control freak so I've gone ahead and decided to give you a quick itinerary:
Friday, November 12, 2010
Going to Holland
Sunday, November 7, 2010
The Sarah Silverman Legends of Autism Award
One of my favorite parts of the "Night of Too Many Stars" event is posted above.
The "Night of Too Many Stars" show is to raise funds for Autism education programs, which are gravely needed.
For a $3 iTunes dowload you can have the two-hour comedy show special in its entirety and the proceeds go to fund programs to help children with autism. Autism is something that is near and dear to me, so seeing a program like this is very encouraging. The show alone is worth the three bucks. You get to see things like:
- Steve Carell's outdated song
- Chris Rock cursing out a bidder's ex-boyfriend
- Tina Fey's exotic calendar
- Jimmy Kimmel's bobble head
- Conan O'Brien's masturbating bear act
- Jimmy Fallon singing a song to Mr. Tommy Hilfiger himself while sitting on Thalia's lap
- and of course, the Sarah Silverman Legends of Autism Award
Please Support!
iTunes Link: http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewTVSeason?id=394995472&s=143441
More About the Show: http://www.comedycentral.com/shows/night_of_too_many_stars/index.jhtml
Thursday, November 4, 2010
“We’re so weird.” – Sag Dong Min
Me: People change their skin color sometimes by using tanning or make-up.
Sag Dong Min: Make-up, make-upa, make-up
Me: Make-upa, are you saying it in Korean?
Sag: Yes, we’re so weird.
(In my head bursting and bursting in laughter)
Me (realistically speaking): No you’re not, it’s just the language
And no, this doesn’t mean the Korean language is weird, I really laughed at his reaction of how he pointed out this difference. Come on, when haven’t you heard the joke about the guy ordering a Yumbo Yack from Yack in the Box? Exactly. We can’t be docking language points here.
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This week has also been about perspective to me. I’ve thought a lot about the expectations people have of one another. We expect people, based on circumstantial evidence, upbringing, background, or even socio-economic class to achieve and to do a limited array of things. This goes from the kid in the projects who is expected to drop out of high school and try to maintain a menial paying job to the trust-fund kid expected to live off of mommy and daddy’s bank account forever and ever. In either scenario, people should not expect anything from people. Many people who come from low-income upbringing use that to motivate their goals of wanting to become something grand. Many people in the trust-fund situation usually feel ashamed of being privileged and want to make their own name for themselves. The point is, don’t expect anything from anyone.
I’ve seen the person who went to the good school say things like “conversate” and “aks (instead of “ask”)” and I’ve seen the person from the slums be on the verge from being a Mensa genius. Things that I’ve personally done in my life, no one ever pressured or expected them from me, I really just expected them from myself. Whatever things I ever put myself through it’s really been because I expected them from myself, and I still do. I admire people who take those expectations others have of them, and instead are empowered by their own expectations, throwing the others into the crapper.
That’s why I surround myself in the company that I do. Many of my friends and family members have become people who have not let their environments faze them, but instead they do what they do because they want to do better and bigger things for themselves, beyond the expectations. I also love the company I’m in because it seems that my friends and family always have an “itch.” They’re either too comfortable or too uneasy about their current positions that they wish to do more. Where most people would have settled, I look at the people around me (figuratively considering that I live on the other side of the world from LA) and see that they always want to do more. They want get a better job, get a better education, travel more, learn more…all in all, have a better life. I like that. I admire that, and chances are that I admire you.
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Time Shifts
Well Halloween has come and it has now gone. It was a lot of fun. It was fun and mellow. Went to Josh & Audrey’s place for a get-together, headed to the Osan Lounge, then went home. Spent the day with some cool people as the “boy who lived” aka Harry Potter. The day before I was watching Repo: A Genetic Opera, a great movie, and the best thing Paris Hilton has done in her career.
Now it’s November, which means my dad’s birthday will be in some weeks as well as Thanksgiving. I’m considering a Thanksgiving lesson for some of my classes since the Halloween one went so well.
I’ve also gone ahead and have allowed my iPod to now play Christmas music, music that always cheers me up and at the same time is parallel to the weather here. In terms of health, I am so much better now.
I’ve been listening a lot to Shakira’s new CD also, it’s great, that “Gordita” song with Calle 13 is still on repeat. Speaking of music, it was weird because I had a dream the other day, but it was more like a movie. I say this in the sense that it had a soundtrack to it. The song? It was the theme song to “California Dreams.” I thought the dream where I was driving down the road yelled LA, but this one just spelled it out for me in block letters.
So the question keeps coming up, whether or not I’ll renew my contract. I think this week reached a new high at the count of four times, and it’s only Wednesday. IDK. IDK. IDK. I need to go to LA for the holidays first, then when I come back to SK then MAYBE I can make an informed decision. That’s all that’s on my mind for now. Also, I found out my niece got Student of the Month at her school, congratulations!
Thursday, October 28, 2010
“Love is Mr. Navarro, because he smiles”
I did not make up that quote in the title; one of my students actually said that. The freshmen had oral exams this week and their topic was L-O-V-E. I’ve gotten some really outstanding responses, and a few not worth mentioning, so let’s dive right in and mention the good ones! These are just excerpts from longer speeches from different students.
Love is fire, it is dangerous and not easily quenched
Love is a mosquito bite, the more we scratch it the itchier we feel
Love is a black hole, we don’t know much about it but we want to explore it
Love is a present from China to Peru, because all people do love (reminded me of Sarey...and David, lol)
Love is a cell phone because I always carry it around
Love is coffee, sweet and bitter
Love is a shoulder bag, happy and light at first, but heavy and exhausting after a long time
Love is being stupid together
Love is poison and betrayal because it causes depression and greed (bitter much?)
Love is a puzzle because you have to adapt and you can easily break
Love is sleep, without it you would be lifeless
Let’s talk about love (I had 2 students from different classes with this opener and it floored me each time)
But out of all of these my favorite one was one I can’t even write about and wish I had recorded.
The kid made awesome gestures detailing the effects love has on his olfactory being. From what I can remember he said this: “Love is great. You can not hear it (points to ears). You can’t see it (points to eyes). You can’t taste it (points to lips). You can’t even smell it (points to nose). But I know love is all around, that’s why it’s so great.” I’m really paraphrasing here and my putting actions into parentheses does not do justice to how he walked around the classroom. These exams are always fun for me to do because all I have to do is “sit back and watch my ass grow.” (I think that’s a Homer Simpson quote)
My sophomores got a taste for Halloween with my Halloween lesson, one of the most fun lessons I’ve done thus far. They enjoyed it, I enjoyed it, it was great. I showed them a picture of my friends and I from last year at the South Bay Brixton and had them guess the costumes. Please tell me why my students can quickly guess that I was CLEARLY Peter Pan yet my friends back home gave me answers like Robin Hood and Link from Zelda???? Hmmmm?
BTW, I told them Pati was Lady GaGa, which some of them guessed. Rainbow Brite isn’t so big over here.
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So it has been super cold this week. A little over 30 degrees farenheit has been the average here. It also included me getting sick. Granted, I’ve been here for almost 5 months and for this to be the first time I’ve gotten sick since I’ve arrived isn’t so bad. Even my cold isn’t so bad. Thanks to some rest, vitamin C, and Korean meds (which are a bargain btw) I am feeling much better now. It doesn’t mean that I’m warmer as I dress up like an Afghan housewife all covered up when I leave my apartment and haul ass to work. On the plus side, I’ve gotten to work earlier this week. Well that’s all for now, enjoy this picture of me while we all wait for me upload the Halloween pics from tomorrow’s party!
In this pic I'm IMing with 2 friends. Concerned face much? Notice my layers in clothing, trying to keep warm.
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This is currently my power song. I recommend it for working out. Move over "Survivor." My favorite part is the chorus with Concha Buika, sounds flawless.
p.s. The student who influenced this blog's title did not receive a high grade. Aside from this opener the rest of the speech was pretty much downhill from there. Flattery got him nowhere.
Monday, October 25, 2010
The Talent, All Hallow's Eve, and the Freeze
I was floored when I saw this. This festival is pretty much a big deal complete with a streamer shooter, smoke machine, pyrotechnics, lighting, and projectors. Quite the spectacle indeed (and my couch is still debatable?). The foreign exchange students participated as well, so everyone was happy to see them get involved in student life here. I was also a judge so it was nice having my hand in who won the prizes.
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The Halloween season is upon us and I'm very excited. Went to Itaewon on Saturday for a costume/birthday party taking place there. It was a blast, but because we decided to stay later than we had originally anticipated we ended up having to stay at a, and I use the term loosely, hotel. You have to dress in what I could only equate as bad middle school PE uniforms, and sleep in what I could only equate as the Holocaust 2.0. It was hot and hard to sleep there, but we all managed to nap I suppose. We caught the first train out of there and used Sunday as recovery/catch up on sleep day. All in all it was fun, an experience, and in retrospect pretty funny.
Also, my neighbors are planning on having a Nightmare Before Christmas viewing on the actual halloween night. Yes!
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Yesterday was Monday October 25, 2010. Yesterday was the first day since I got to SK that I actually felt cold. Like cold cold. Like really cold. It is going to be an average of 35 degrees (f) this week, so pardon me LA, but you don't know what cold is. What I love about cold weather though is that I sleep like a log and it's easier to make yourself warm when you're outside than it is to make yourself cool in when it's hot.
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Have You Seen the Ghost of John?
Sunday, October 17, 2010
A message from me....IN THE FLESH
Saturday, October 16, 2010
NEWSFLASH!
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
The Question Part 2
Conversation during lunch today led to this:
Mr. Lee: So what's keeping you from wanting to renew your contract?
Loaded question much? So yes, it came up again. It was also followed up by another question asking me what my plans would be if I decided to move back to the USA. Well I've said it before and I'll say again, and this time with capital letters: I-D-K. I really don't know.
Actually, what I plan to do this weekend and later share with you is a decision that will affect this decision once it is played out. Sounds confusing, I know.
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I've noticed my blogs have sequels now. Last time I had this many sequels it was during student-teaching, something that was monumental in me deciding if teaching was something I was built for doing. The 16 year-old in me was right when he decided go into English education.
Ferdinand and the High Road
I remember seeing this tweet because I “follow” @SarahKSilverman and laughing in my head about how spot-on Michael Vick gets addressed nowadays and how everything changed when his dumb-butt got caught staging dog fights. Animal cruelty sucks and it shouldn’t be allowed. Bottom line.
I’m not a vegan and I’m definitely not a vegetarian, but it comforts me more in knowing that an animal gave up its life in order to satisfy a human need, to feed the hungry. That is different from an animal having given up its life in order to fulfill a type of human greed, gambling, and recreation in a manner I can only identify as cruel. Dog fights, cock fights, and even bullfighting I find to be unnecessary, cruel, and downright ignorant.
Did you ever read the story Ferdinand the Bull? I remember reading it in early elementary and completely loving it. If you haven’t you should and you should share it with as many children (and grown-ups too, why not?) as possible because it has an awesome message. Ferdinand is a bull in Spain, and like many bulls in Spain he is destined to become a fighter against a matador (side note: matador is a Spanish word for “killer”—just saying). However, Ferdinand is not like the other bulls. He appreciates things like nature through looking at flowers and enjoying the shade under a big tree. He decides on taking the high road and that he’s a lover not a fighter. Aside from relating to him, I found it to be true of animals.
They may not speak, but they are definitely part of nature and they can be loyal if you treat them right. When I see things on the news like how an underground cock-fighting arena was raided, or how a ground for breeding fighting dogs was evacuated, I can’t help but think of the pets I’ve had in the past. I grew up in a household where we never-not had a pet. And I mean everything: birds, fish, lizards, turtles, dogs, and rabbits. My family is a pet family and I would love to have my own dog as soon as I could room one. But when I see these news reports I just think of the faces of my old pets and my family’s current dog, Patches, looking back at me. What did these animals do to deserve being programmed to fight their own kind? Why should they be tortured for the sake of a bunch of drug-peddling-alcohol-induced-overly-addicted-to-gambling audiences? I never understood this. The only justification for watching pain for sport is if you’re watching people boxing, ultimate fighting, etc. They made a conscious decision to be there.
To make a light situation out of this blog I decided to post this video which is related to my topic, just forward to 3:15 (funny stuff).
"If I Were a Boy, I Would Turn Off my Phone, I'd Tell Everyone it's Broken..." Part 2
- If I were a pop star I would meet many stars like Oprah Winfrey or Rain.
- If I were a superhero I would help sick people to go to the hospital.
- If I were president I would make a happy world.
- If I were a movie star I would buy sunglasses and walk the road because I'm famous.
- If I were a movie star I would shoot a wonderful kiss scene with a top actress.
The last two were written by the same pair of boys, who are obviously ready to be famous. Well the same group of boys who wrote the last two statements on my list did something that totally caught me off guard. As they were finishing up their statements they broke into song and sang....WAIT FOR IT...."If I Were a Boy" by Beyonce. Again, I was thrown off guard and thought to myself "Did these guys read my last blog entry?" Granted, I have not mentioned this Beyonce song in class at all, so I was in awe when these boys started to belt it out. I told them how the song is a good example of an imaginary scenario and how I happened to enjoy that song. Then I carried on.
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In other news it's Lisette's wedding this Saturday! Crazy! I'm very happy for her and I wish I could be there. I was touched when I got her invitation here in SK. Also, Andres' birthday/house party is that same Saturday too, happy birthday in advanced!
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Very excited about what I get to do this weekend, and even more excited to share it with you all soon.
Sunday, October 10, 2010
"If I Were a Boy, I Would Turn Off my Phone, I'd Tell Everyone it's Broken..."
Well a big thing I'm doing with my students this week is talking to them about scenarios.
I've presented some scenarios to them that were selected at random by them and they would have to make sentences and present what they would do in the given situations.
- I were president I would remove the university entrance exam.
- If I had a million dollars I would invest and manage my money to have more than a million dollars.
- If I were a movie star I would buy a middle sized island in the pacific ocean.
- If I were a pop star I would have many super cars, about 100.
- If I had an airplane I would go to Japan because I want to buy comic books.
- If I were president I would make a nuclear weapon to kill every people in the world, except kind people.
- If I were a movie star I would make a scandal with a sexy woman.
- If I were a movie star I would walk the steet enjoying the popularity.
And Here's my favorite spoof:
"Drink Up Judah Ben-Hur"...."You Truly are the King of Kings"
It was all in all a good weekend. Had a busy Saturday going from Songtan to Pyeongtaek to Songtan to Pyeongtaek and back to Songtan again (no joke). Went to the air base to catch the air show, at least that's the excuse to use when you want to eat on base. So much food! It was fun, I think I lost my hearing, but it was fun nonetheless.
This upcoming weekend is extremely important to me. Excited!!!!! I got the “green light” that I get to do so and I can’t wait to tell you all once I make the decision. Some already know what the news is, but I shall build the suspense for you…starting now. It’s going to make some people happy, ok, enough said.
The title came from a joke that kept coming up from this weekend, nothing too serious.
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
"work"
Sunday, October 3, 2010
The Foreign One Pt. 2
It was during my junior year of college at CSUDH and I got a call at about 6 in the morning. My friend Sarey’s mom called me asking me if Sarey had spent the night at my place because Sarey had not come home all night. I was worried, and this turned into a series of phone calls between my friends and I in trying to locate Sarey and making sure nothing happened to her. At some point I think Yaya initiated a missing person’s poster campaign. It turned into a squad search event to say the least.
Well things got squared away not too long after. After having noticed an endless amount of texts/voicemail messages on her cell phone, Sarey got back to everyone and the situation was put at ease. She came home late, and left early to go jogging. No one noticed when she came home and no one noticed when she left that morning. That was it.
So why have I decided to write about this event?
I’m glad you asked. Well on Saturday night/Sunday morning I had a “stay-in” night after many other events unfolded. I had been watching movies on iTunes and before heading to bed I thought I’d have Facebook a detour.
Well next thing I knew a fellow teacher, Lexi (who has only been in SK for ~2 weeks) IM’d me in total panic. The conversation asked me to call another new teacher Brooke (because Lexi has yet to get a cell phone in SK, she only has Internet) and to get her to call her mother. Here’s how that went:
1. Brooke left her mom a phone message mentioning the word “hospital”
2. IM from Lexi on Facebook asked me to get a hold of Brooke and to call her mom
3. I call Audrey asking her for Brooke’s number and fill her in
4. It turns out I already had Brooke’s number on my phone
5. I call Brooke twice and leave her two text messages explain the situations
6. 10 minutes go by
7. I get a text response from Brooke
8. We talk
9. Turns out her mom heard “hospital” but Brooke said “HOSTEL,” she had gone to Seoul for the weekend and left her mom a voicemail saying she had checked in at a hostel, not hospital
10. I tell Brooke to call her mom, and lecture her to this time enunciate
11. Brooke is officially embarrassed
12. I fill in Audrey and Lexi on the situation
13. It becomes a conversation topic on Sunday
And because of course this is the second time something like this has happened to me, I can’t help but laugh it off. But you better believe I will use this as ammunition to poke fun at the parties involved.
Before I left for SK, Nick told me that I should be on a mission to find Korean equivalents of all my friends. Even though Brooke is from Colorado…I think I found someone who can somewhat compare to my Peruvian friend.
p.s. Equivalents will never come close to the originals
p.s. HAPPY UPCOMING BIRTHDAY TO MY TWIN ETNA!
The List(s)
- One of our school’s French exchange students had a grandfather who passed away.
I turned down a dinner with not one, not two, but three school principals. In retrospect I feel that was big no no.
After dinner with friends, I found out that my neighbor was hospitalized during his family’s vacation (they hadn’t had a vacation since they arrived from NYC in 2007).
My house-sitting assignment started earlier than expected.
Had to unexpectedly ride a bicycle in South Korea. Never in my life have been honked at so much by drivers (and I’ve driven w/ an open trunk in LA freeways).
I had to walk around with a big bag of Science Diet for the dog in Songtan.
I ate my weight in mondu.
I was not able to go to Seoul this weekend as planned (Come to think of it, I haven’t been back in Seoul in a while).
I found out I’m allergic to at least one of the family’s cats (there are two).
Made 2 discoveries, one of FB, and one on my own (both weirded me out).
Had to play “pass along the message” between a fellow teacher and her mother.
All in all, big middle finger to you October 2nd, and part of the day before too!
On my Sunday however…
- Had the house sitting routine down to a science
- Went to Pyeongtaek and enjoyed the rooftop view from the AK Plaza
- Burst into sudden laughter while Susanna and I were carrying pizza boxes to “Jaudrey’s” place because we heard an instrumental Kpop version of “When a Man Loves a Woman.”
- Had pizza
- Played many fun rounds of King’s Cup and BS over soju with great people
- Laughed hysterically about the "pass the message" occurence, as well as the 2 things that weirded me out.
Verdict: Good Sunday
Saturday, October 2, 2010
A letter
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Fear of Away
But I will say that this has been my only concern during my time here (well the only concern of massive proportions). So stay safe, only go when the light turns green, put on your seatbelt, load up on Emegen-C’s and don’t break a bone.
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Beautiful in Los Angeles
I’ve visited other places in the winter time: Mexico, Guatemala, Las Vegas, Big Bear, Lake Arrowhead, and others I’m sure I cannot recall at the moment. But this will be the first time I actually live through an entire season away from So Cal. It’s not just going somewhere for a weekend or a week, this will be weeks and weeks of going through things like cold and another new-fangled type of weather called snow. It would be nice to be in the land of eternal summer, but at the same time its part of the changes I’ve had to get used to the past couple of months since my moving here.
September is almost over, geez, that was a blink of an eye. Wasn’t it just my birthday, like in 2009? Time sure flies by and FAST (with a capital F). It was nice speaking to my niece Jujubeans (aka Julie) on her birthday and glad she enjoyed her gifts and it’s good knowing she’s doing well in school.
Nothing major has really happened except for having enjoyed my week off in a very laid-back way. Other than that, go and download that song, it’s one of my favorites.
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Monica and the Light Switch
I have such a switch. My classroom has four light switches and three of them correspond to the three lighting sectors in the room. But there’s a fourth switch that does nothing, at least nothing I have been able to pinpoint. After my co-teacher asked me if it was okay to turn off some of the lights in my classrooms, I saw it as the perfect opportunity to ask about that fourth switch. Turns out it used to correspond to an older ceiling fan that used to be in the room, which is now replaced by my ceiling A/C unit.
Well this whole week has been about turning on lights for me. After celebrating my birthday here is Songtan with fellow abroad teachers, neighbors, and new friends I have, I used some of the time after that to reflect. A part of me could not believe I wasn’t spending that day with my friends and family back home in LA. I must admit that I got homesick at one point after my festivities were over. Many saw it coming telling me that I would feel “the slump” especially hard on my birthday because it was my first one here and it is parallel to the time of the third month.
After letting that soak in and being grateful for the wishes and the fact that I actually did have fun on my birthday I then reflected more on the things that used to ease my stress. I used to do a lot of things back to vent out any frustrations I had that made me who I am. Well this week I’ve started tapping into that person again.
It’s like when you stop going to gym and hate the idea of going back, but when you do, you remind yourself of why you did it in the first place. With that said, I’ve started running again, did it three times this week (aren’t you just proud?). I had let myself forget how freeing running can be and how putting on a good jam on in the iPod can make a run go from good to great. I seriously can’t wait for nighttime to get to go run, and plus it helps me discover parts of Songtan I’ve overlooked before.
I’ve also gotten into writing. I don’t mean just writing for this blog, but writing in other forms. I actually used to write into MS Word documents like crazy all the time. I’m back to that habit. Especially as I’m currently reading Timbuktu by Paul Auster, which tells the story of a now-homeless man who is on the brink of death but ever since he was a teenager he was infatuated with writing and literature. As I’m currently working through this book, I’m glad to say that I could relate to the outlet that is writing and the power it can have.
I guess those are the lights that went off in my head; the switch definitely took some time to find.
P.S. Happy Birthday Week to Nick and Pati! Go Team Virgo!
P.S. Hope you were able to see the metaphor in the last sentence of the second paragraph.
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Where Were You?
Where were you when Selena died?
I was coming home from school. I attended Norwood Elementary. When I got home my parents were both there watching television. My mom said "Someone killed Selena." At first I didn't really understand what she had said. "Someone killed who?" I thought. Also the idea that "Someone killed Celia," who is my sister, did cross my mind but was immediately scratched out when I heard the uneventful tone in her voice. Had something happened to my sister it would have been full blown emotion, not just my parents sitting around and watching TV. So when I asked my mom for a second delivery, I finally understood what she meant. The singer of "Bidi Bidi Bom Bom" had passed away because her fan club rep had shot her. And yes, I remember sitting around the television as well joining my parents on the edge of my seat wondering what Yolanda was going to do in that car with the police surrounding her. It was like a thriller movie, intense!
Where were you on the events of September 11, 2001 (aka 9/11)?
It was my seventeenth birthday, but that didn't void me from going to school. In fact, I really wanted to go to school. It was my senior year of high school and birthdays had become a big deal within my circle of friends that year. They included pinatas, going out for movies, and having one friend burn her hair because we rigged her birthday cake with trick candles.
Well I woke up that morning with a little pep in my step because I wanted to see what school would be like on my birthday. In the midst of getting ready my father said, "Someone attacked the World Trade Center." Those words. I was like "....Ok, well that's not good." The words he chose to tell me are what triggered that mundane expression. If you recall sometime before someone had walked into the Twin Towers with a gun but was immediately stopped. So when my father said, "someone attacked," I figured someone walked in with a gun, pocketknife, or some pointy object that could be considered a weapon, that is all.
I got to school only to find that with every classroom I walked by the TV was on and that all the students were glued to it like it was a Magic Eye game. I thought it was perculiar but I still didn't think anything of it and figured that I would find out about what they're watching when I get to class. I got to first period, which was US Government, and long behold, one of the towers had been attacked and it was up in smoke! Crazy! After reading the headlines and overhearing what my classmates were saying, I was all caught up.
I was watching these huge monuments just fall into pieces. I got to second period with a quickness because I didn't want to miss what was happening. This is the class I had with all my friends, Mr. Odegaard's AP English class. It was my birthday for a whomping 5 minutes. It was all "Happy Birthday Oscar! Here are your presents, now back to TV!" I was fine with it though. I got it. How could I possibly think about celebrating my birthday when massive amounts of people are dying because airplanes keep crashing in monumental buildings? One gift I remember getting was a sweater from Heidi and Lizzy which they went to pick out from Anchor Blue and had some guy who was of my same physical demeanor try it on to see how it would look on me, I still have it somewhere in my closet in LA. Anyways, I remember being glued to the TV and watching those towers fall as if they nothing, just a couple of Lego buildings some four year-old was knocking down.
The whole day was like that though. It was just me walking around with my gifts from period to period trying to get my eyes to catch every moment of what was going on. It was AP Calculus and we had a substitute teacher. And yes, my memory about this day is just that detailed. The PA system over the whole campus had announced to the Fremont teachers that the events on the TV were too violent and suggested they'd be turned off. Well our sub didn't give a flying fuck about what the PA said and kept it on as his argument was that we were witnessing history unfold before our very eyes. He was right! Once the events subsided it was Tennis class, but by that time everyone was still getting over that initial shock of what transpired that morning. There was no Tennis class, I went home, had dinner with the family, all the while still being attached to TV like a siamese twin.
Where were you when Michael Jackson died?
It was grad school time and I decided to head to the Starbucks at the Barnes & Nobles near the CSULB campus to get some studying done (the one on 2nd street next to the AMC). I found a table all to myself and as soon as I logged on I noticed that some headlines read about Michael Jackson being in a serious condition. I then raced to Facebook to see if any of my friends had posted anything and about three of them had posted that MJ had died. I was in complete shock. But because I hadn't read anything official from news sites I didn't know whether to find any truth in those status updates. I then decide to go to the website that may very well be the fall of the human race, TMZ. Even though I don't support the paparazzi movement, they seem to know things a lot quicker than CNN and KTLA 5. Sure enough, they had reported that Michael Jackson had died. Still in awe, I hit refresh on those news sites and the headline went from "Critical Condition" to "Passed Away." At that very moment I yelled out for all of Starbucks, its cutomers and employees to hear, "Oh my God, Michael Jackson just died!"
The Baristas then turn to me and one of them said, "Really? He did? I've been getting text messages from friends not knowing if he had died or not." I confirmed to her the information I had gotten from my sources. Then about five minutes later I get a call from my mother (as I was expecting) where she told me she was sad and we then briefly spoke about his passing.
I have a picture from the wall that was made for his memorial service at the Staples Center that now stands in the Nokia Theater in LA. It was signed by those fans who attended the memorial. In utter jelousy that I could not go, I am glad to be next to a piece of musical history.
"In The Midnight Hour, I Can Feel Your Power"
This topic, much like the last blog, is the result of a single "tweet" posted not too long ago. This blog could not have come at a better time either. This week marks the week of the Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanah, and the end of Ramadan in the Islamic faith, Eid. Without thinking about these two monumental holidays in Western culture, my topic this week with my students has been religion, mainly what I call "The Big Three" (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam). I've been teaching them about the family tree and how Abraham, Jesus, and Muhammad are all rooted in the same family tree.
Granted, anyone that knows anything about me knows that I am not religious, like AT ALL. But I must say I do show my respect to those that decide to follow an organized faith and I would never influence their decision, as I hope they would not do the same to me (It's called respect). However, I do know that all the religions offer valuable tidbits in philosophy and humanity. They are all rooted in the same message, a message I follow: Be a good and decent person, if you do something bad, make it right. That's it. That's what I follow. I feel everything will fall into place if you just follow the golden rule.
I also find interest in relgion, and although I may not agree with its organization, I must say that there is much credit that should be given to relgious literature. The Bible, The Torah, and the Qu'Ran are all well written books that paved the way for other works of Western literature. However, current events do not seem to see it that way.
I will say that I have learned a lot from friends in different religions. I learned a lot about Islam from Zorah, a lot about Christianity from Phoebe, and a lot about Judaism from a great teacher, Mrs. Goldman. I have been very priveleged (dare I say blessed?) to have been exposed to an abundance of information that has allowed me not only to learn about, but to have made an informed decision about my faith and believes, as well as tolerate the faiths of others.
This blog not only emerges from my lesson plan for this week, but also from the fact there is much non-tolerance going on in the USA. Because a mosque is being considered as part of the multicultural memorial (emphasis on MULTICULTURAL) of ground zero, people have found it as an excuse to burn Qu'Rans. Some ministers and imams have made outrageous blanket statements that tell me that they should both take a deep breath and to just sit down and have a conversation. It doesn't do anyone any good to hear these supposed religious leaders yell and belt out outrageous statements that make them look bad and should instead have an informed conversation. Also, and a complaint, they need to remind themselves that the basis for their religions is that we are all the children of God (try and remember that please!).
I kind of felt outraged as well when I got an email in my Spam folder. I SOMEHOW (I really have no clue how) got into some email list for the Tea Party (a party of which makes regular Republicans look lenient). Well I usually don't pay attention to my bulk mail, but I must say that the title, "Ground Zero Imam Blows More Smoke Than Sheds Light---Threatens the American People" caught my eye. Yes, that was in the Subject line of the email. I, of course, opened it and read it. After reading it, it made me more outraged and it made me think that once again, the statements said are making the people who are saying them look worse than the group they are opposing. This is a quote direct from that email (no edits) about Muslims:
"They are perennially violent, 24/7. And, is it the responsibility of the rest of the world to examine each action to determine how it will affect this very unstable and violent group of people?
Any Mom can tell you – don’t reward bad behavior!"
Really? Saying Muslims are violent 24/7? No offense but this email sounds like it comes from people who think about violence 24/7. And don't reward bad behavior? This isn't a group of puppies you are trying to train, this is a religious group you are talking about. "Bad Mulims, bad bad Muslims." <-- That's what I imagine them saying. No offense, but no religion, ethnic group, or social class is perfect, and blaming a large group for individual radical actions is just wrong. It's the same crap that's happening with the Arizona immigration laws and the Don't Ask Don't Tell laws in the military. I bet you anything that there were Muslims in those Twin Towers who did not see those airplanes coming. I also bet that not every German during WWII was a law-abiding Nazi. Just ask the protagonist of my favorite movie of all time, Schindler.
Wow, this rant went on a lot longer than expected. The power of a tweet.