HONG KONG!!!

Why do I look distressed?????? more to come.....

THAT LADY MADE ME MAD!!!!

Sometimes white people in Korea make small children cry. This morning Lumina said hi to a little boy who was too cute to pass up and he started to run away screaming. His fear was only exacerbated when he fell in his haste to get away from the scary blue eyed lady

It reminded me of a time on my mission when I tried my usual "don't smile" reverse psychology trick with disasterous result. Just so you know, this trick almost always leaves ay normal grouchy 3 year old giggling...they love to be told NOT to do something as loveable as smiling...and they get the humor in it. I love it. This one particular time, I did it to a little girl that I had just met in West Virginia and the freaky child ran screaming and crying from the room. When the investigator mom went to find out what happened, we could hear the little girl screaming, "THAT LADY MADE ME MAD!!!!" oops. We never really taught them again.

That one abberation to a fail proof trick has come full circle here in Korea where all I have to do is look at a kid and they burst into tears. Honestly I"m probably the first caucasian they've ever seen. Ok. I get it. I'm scary. Funny.

Why am I all nervous?

I'm singing tonight at a gallery show opening. I haven't sung in public since I've been here and my mini open mic at my birthday party doesn't really count because those are my friends and they are forced to appreciate the roughness of my unpolished performance. This is different. I'm singing jazz with a bassist and guitarist and there will be real people there. I haven't practiced the songs with the musicians I'll be playing with and I've had a headache all day.

My friend Angie recently took some Ambien to help her sleep and evidently called 6 people in the middle of the night in a drug induced stupor and sang "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" to their voicemail. I don't know if I can get some ambien here, but that doesn't sound like a bad idea. At least I wouldn't have to REALLY remember it all the next day (and I would feel refreshed and relaxed in the morning!) Somehow I don't think the claritin that I've taken today will produce the desired brain melt. sigh. I hope I don't throw up.

The Truth About the Breakup

Ever since I dumped diet coke, I've realized that there's more to say about our relationship. I want you to know that I'm suffering. I'm sitting at my desk at 2:45 pm getting ready to face a class of three overactive boys who don't listen and are, as we speak, cultivating a list of american swear words and obscene hand gestures with which to shock me. And more than anything I want to run downstairs to the ministop and hand over 1,300 won to the man behind the counter and walk out with brown liquid happiness.



Here's what diet coke does, (strike that, USED to DO) for me.

-Gave me something to look forward to in my day. Because sometimes wrangling kids or wetlands (ala TNC) just doesn't do it for you.
-Made my throat and body all tingly, like having a crush everyday but without the stress of whether he likes me or not.
-engendered creativity. What do you do when the coke is warm and there's no ice in the freezer? Why, fashion a harness and hang it outside your office window of course. Necessity is the mother of invention.
-created opportunities to flirt. The GS Mart boy is adorable when he tries to speak English. Except for the one time he used his English to tell me that my hair looked funny. That was not so adorable. Otherwise, it's worth 1300 and a caffeine buzz to shyly smile at one another.
-Kept me awake enough to blog.
-satiated my craving for something sweet while providing me with zero caloric intake. Although, now that I think about it, I think I consumed MORE chocolate when I was doing the coke. hmmmm....
-helped me to collect enough bottles to make maracas with 48 kindergarteners. That's just sad.

I'm still a diet coke drinker but I've curtailed it to once a week. We'll see how long this lasts.

Jimmy Cracked Corn...

Everything is different.

Adam has a girlfriend. Brett has a wife. AND I FEEL NOTHING! WOOOOOOO HOOOOOO! Truly, honestly, beautifully, I'm free. Congratulations to these dear amazing men. And congratulations to MEMMMEMEMEMEMEMEMEMEMEMEEEEE!

Movin' on Up to the east side...of the building

Just in case you were worried that life in Korea was getting a bit predictable, boring, blah blah...well here's some good news:

1. Seasons change- Welcome Fall, the most perfect, beautifully ambling seasonal change I can remember. Winter is creeping in one degree at a time and brewing up some truly amazing weather.

2. Cubicles change- I moved this past saturday into the larger of the two "officetels" that my school has in the building. This one is approximately twice the size of my old dorm room and now takes 10 steps to get to the bathroom instead of 2. There is even enough room for a proper "sitting area" and my chair count is now up to 4 plus a tiny uncomfortable loveseat. This is very exciting news (especially for the 5 people who came over to watch Flight of the Conchords at my old place. Sorry about that.) Let's just have another gratuitous shot of the luxurious space of my new apartment. I tried to lounge in the luxuriousness, but quickly discovered the loveseat is not conducive to basking as it is korean sized.3. Friends change- The first of my real Korea friends went home making it clear to me that turnover is part of life in the ROK and I have to get used to it. It's the world of the one year contract...you know exactly when you're going to have goodbyes. I miss the world where people spring leaving on you as part of a life decision instead of something they've been planning for since the beginning. oh well. Fair thee well jjimjilbang boys.4. Temperaments change- Once upon a time, a scene like the one you are about to view made my skin crawl and turned me into the evil teacher from hell. Now I revel just a bit in the anarchy as I sit back and realize, hey, they're 4.Speaking of work, I've started doing some curriculum editing work. The publishing company associated with my school asked me to look at a program that uses cooking to teach english. I will admit that I've pretty much got this theater thing down, so I'm feeling ready to take on a new challenge. And I've been missing the work that I did at TNC...so this is really cool. And it pays more money. And the books will be published when they are finished. I'm starting to think that this sort of project management is what I would like to do for a career....but who knows. I feel really ambivalent about the possibilities for the future. THAT hasn't changed :)

5. God doesn't change, but callings do- As if He heard my whining about having two callings (nursery and music chair) and decided to just roll them all into one bigger and more complicated task, I was just called to be the Military District Singles Co-Chair. That's like a stake that covers the entire country of S. Korea, no joke.

The exciting part is that I will know TONs of people all over korea and get to travel a bit (chili's in pyeongteok, here I come!!!!). The less than exciting part is that I can't just bail out of activities when I'm feeling less than social. Meh. Oh yeah and the part where I have to organize stuff and go to meetings which are rumored to be at 6:30 am on the sabbath. So long, cute sunday hair and welcome roll- out -of- bed bun.

I also have a sneaking suspicion that no one ever asks the girl in charge out on dates. Clipboards and business emails are generally not very attractive to the other gender. Being a bratty side participant who makes off-handed smarmy comments during potluck "get to know you" rounds is much sexier. Sigh. Sigh. Loveboat julie at your service.

Hipster Olympics

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kAO4EVMlpwM (can't get this to embed...:( )

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!

Once upon a time I tried to define the word "hipster" to my Korean friend, Jihyun. I couldn't really make it work but I wish I had this video then.

Tonight I am missing these places and these people

Do I love the place or the people in that place?