Finally, its over

I took this picture when I was going to America in November... You have to click on it to make it big... but look at the little yellow triangle sign by the street light... its a picture of a car driving off a ledge into the water... I just thought it was funny... its just a sign saying "sometimes people drive their cars off into the water here, so... uh.. watch out..." hehehe... I mean you would think it was have a red slash through it at least... like this is what you shouldn't do...! Or maybe a sign explaining the reason why people do that... hehe, but this sign was all long this road... its kinda like a really long low bridge road... the airport is on an island.

This is Leeloo hiding under the turtle... I didn't put the turtle on her... she like to be under things that can keep her warm... sorry, there wasn't much light in the room and my phone takes terrible pictures, I should have grabbed John's camera!

Chance and Leeloo cuddling and Chance trying to surf the web... he likes kitty porn a little too much for his own good! Damn they are cute cats!

Here they are, one more time, cuddling (they do that a lot!) Leeloo is wearing my headband, and resting her little kitty head on her brother. She loves to be warm so she will lay on you or under a blanket when ever she can... and Chance just has no idea she is there... !

Just a funny pic from my mom's workplace. She's an x-ray tech and this room (which is broken) is a room containing an x-ray machine... I like this photo for several reasons... first of all, you can see my mom in the reflection... nice looking lady. Second of all the post-it note give an impression of impermanence to the inoperable state of this room, but, if you know anything about medical equipment and the state of the American economy these days, you can assume there is no way in hell this thing is getting fixed any time soon. Also, the post-it implies that the room itself is broken... and you have my word (I took a look inside) the room is perfectly functional.. it has a door and space inside surrounded by walls a floor and ceiling.... which I believe are the only requirements to calling something a "room"... so really it should say something like "machine broken" but then it wouldn't have been amusing to me and I wouldn't have wasted our time writing/reading about it :)

On Leaving Home to Go Home

So, here I am, on my big trek back to America for my high school reunion. I know most people think this is strange, but I graduated with less than 90 fellow students, so I knew most of them rather well. I have spend the last few weeks thinking about all the people I used to eat lunch with, hang out on the stage with, sleep through global studies with, and I really miss them. I was really fortunate to go to school with some really awesome people.

I know most kids have lots of tribulations in their high school career, but I was lucky. I mean, of course I experienced my fair share of drama but I really enjoyed the time I spent there, and am really looking forward to seeing people.

I have to admit, having two homes is strange... especially when they are so far apart. You don't know if you should be excited about leaving either place to go to the other or if you should be sad... Either emotion brings a certain amount of guilt with it. I guess this is just part of growing up.

--- I started this blog entry when I was sitting in the Tokyo Airport a week ago, and here I am, back again... this time on my way... home... even though both times I was on my way home... well I had a wonderful trip. Even though there were about 4-5 people I had hoped would be at the reunion that weren't I still enjoyed seeing most people again. There were a few people there that I wished were not there (I expected they would be incarcerated!) But fortunately we never talked.

I think the trip was worth it... I know its a far way to go, but once you get where you are going you completely forget about the travel (at least I do) and just enjoy your time. I was really lucky on the way back, I had a row of three seats all to myself... actually, since so few people are traveling these days there were a lot of lucky people on my flight! :) Now is the perfect time for a long dist flight :) I laid down and slept for the first 8-10 hours and then I was up for the last 2-3 watching a movie... Actually I didn't go to sleep for about the first hour or two cause there was dinner and snacks and the benadryl hadn't kicked in yet.

I do wish I didn't have to work tomorrow, but that's just the way it goes. At least I will have a lot to talk about with my students.
What did I do on my vacation?

Friday
- Fly on Korean Airlines to Tokyo(they wouldn't give me veg food cause they said I never told them LIES) but all they had was rice and beef stew... ewww
- Fly on Continental to Newark, I sat next to an Indian-American archaeologist who had an arranged marriage last year, he specialised in hand axes, it was really interesting... we were both vegetarians, so that's how we started talking
- Fly on Continental Connection to Rochester... so many open seats and I was stuck in the window seat next to this HUGE guy... I didn't want to be rude, but what should I do?
- get into America
- meet my parents at the airport
- wait for a long time at the wrong baggage carousal
- go pick up Carbones pizza
- hang out at home with Gracy, she was very excited to see me, she pee peed on the floor two times (for those of you who don't know she is a dog)
- Gracy slept in my bed all night

Saturday
- Joan came and picked me up for breakfast
- As usually I got a #10, yummy, I think Joan and I sat there for 2 hours talking
- Went to Joan's house to play with kitties then back to my parents house.
- decided to visit Joan at work tonight
- hung out at home with my mom and dad (or did we go shopping?)
- Went to reunion, saw lots of people I love and miss, and a few I didn't miss
- After the reunion I waited at home to see Joan
- Went to the hospital at 2AM to visit Joan, tried to get donuts on the way but Tim Horton's would not oblige us 12 donuts (jerks), she showed us the ICU and the patients, I watched her change the food that's pumped in through the feeding tube, she also showed us where they take the burn victims to hydrate their skin. Also, there is a toilet in a cupboard that swings out in each of the ICU rooms, really cool.
- Went home and chatted online with John and went to sleep at like 4 AM

Sunday
- Woke up early to go to Kelly's Apple farm with my parents.
- Went to my aunts farm and saw her new chickens
- Made apple crisp with my mom
- Carved two pumpkins and roasted seeds
- Had lasagna with my mom and dad
- Met my Aunt Gwen's new man and won my first game of Monopoly EVER! We had a lot of fun.

Monday
- Woke up early again to go to Panera bread with mom, had a soggy breakfast sandwich
- Did some shopping
- Started to feel sick so I went to the doctor at 12, he was really nice and thorough, that's what I expect for $110+ dollars. Turns out I don't have strep throat, just sick... again
- Went to Cheesecake factory with my fam, they gave my pasta that wasn't fully cooked so I sent it back and it never came back out. But I had a REALLY good lemon cake thing there... wow
- Went to see Changling with fam and had popcorn with real butter... I was feeling kinda sick at the onset of this night, but much better after the movie
- Sleep over at Joan's where we watched TV shows and played with kitties all night. Had some graham crackers and rice milk :):)

Tuesday
- Woke Joan up, had more graham crackers and rice milk!!! Yummy
- Went shopping with Joan, Old Navy, Dicks, Mall... I wanted jeans but didn't get any, I wanted Mirror's Edge but it wasn't out :( But I got a Sigg water bottle and NorthFace jacket (two things I really wanted)
- Go eat at Chili's, black bean burger :) Yummy
- Get home at about 3Pm, take a nap till 7ish
- Go visit Noel and Jay, hang out and talk till about 11PM... then go home.
- Stay up all night talking to mom :)

Wednesday
- Start packing at about 3:30AM of course I'm not good at this, but the suitcase was too heavy so I had to pack some of it in a box again.
-Left for the airport at 5:45AM, mom drove
- After being dropped of I moved through security very fast
- Got some McDonald's breakfast and hopped on the plane
- Fly to Newark on Continental Connection, no one next to me, the flight wasn't even half full again, almost all business guys.
- Hang out in Newark Airport, bought Twilit at the Boarders Bookstore in the airport, and I read the first 4 chapters before I even bought it... for a kids book its pretty good.
- Fly on Continental to Tokyo - I had my own row of three seats all to myself! I took some benadryl and had my dinner and passed out for about 8 hours! I got to lay down! Awesome!

Thursday
- still flying, crossed the international date line.
- Had a snack, slept again, woke up with about 3 hours left, watched CSI and a movie with Queen Latifa with breakfast.
-Now I'm at Narita Airport about to board another flight.
- Soon I will take JAL to Korea and John will meet me at the bus stop and help me bring my bags home. I cant wait!

I know I went to Kohl's with my mom, just cant remember when, I bought two pairs of pants, regular black ones and awesome green corduroy ones :)

That's what I did on my vacation... of course there were more things I wanted to do, but as you can see I did a lot :) its a good 4 days!

Im so very sick now, but I want to say Good luck Obama, sorry I'm not voting, good night

B*tch you Know you like that!

Funny story... so I'm back in Korea and John and I went to Outback for lunch... we are sitting there, enjoying our lunch, when this song starts playing... its a rap song, and for about 3-4 min we hear the rapper saying "Bitch you know you like that" over and over and over... I couldn't stop laughing. It made me think of this commercial. When I first saw that commercial I thought, there is no way anyone could be that stupid... I mean every one knows swear words right? Well I guess not... and the song playing as we left was almost as bad... Its just crazy.

Well Im back and my bathroom is beautifully redone, Im really happy about that... I'll post some pics later, I still have to unpack, we have a new TV stand from our landlord, and for some reason she also gave us another comforter on the bed... I love our landlords, they are a really sweet couple, I feel really guilty that I didn't get them anything... when I come back in November I will give them something. Anyway, on the down side (dang, why is there always a downside?) We have no hot water. John toughed it out with a cold shower, I tried and I almost died! So I'm all nasty! YUCK! I still haven't picked up my kitties from my friend who is watching them, aparently I talked to her on the phone last night and told her I was too tired to pick them up... I totally don't remember that... but I wish I was more awake when I talked to her, there is no way I would say that! Anyway, we will get them tonight. I cant wait!!!

So, California was awesome! The whole time I was there (In sanfrancisco) I kept asking myself "Why don't I live here?" I mean it is just down right beautiful! I think there are more homeless people than NYC, but I guess the weather is better out there. I will post some pics when I steal them from John. We drove up the west coast to Seattle... I think The drive from SF to Portland was about 15-17 hours... And AAA said it would be 11 hours (lying bastards!)

My Vacation So Far

Im sure this should come as no surprise to anyone, but vacations are awesome! You can do WHATEVER YOU WANT, and not feel guilty... everything can wait until you go back to work... at least I feel that is how it should be... there is no need to rush, or listen to an alarm clock or have an insanely packed day where you don't even have time for a decent lunch... oh no... that is all for when we are working. Today I slept in until about 9:30 and then I went to sleep again at about 10:30 for another half hour... it was wonderful :)

So, I have done a lot on my vacation so far, and I still have so much left to do... I am going to make a backwards post until I get to the beginning... so much I have to blog about, and the pictures will have to come later, John has them on his computer and there are just WAY TOO MANY right now!

Friday August 22
Today... well as I already said I slept in real late... you will see why when I right about yesterday.. but when I woke up I went to get a bagel sandwich at "Beyond Bagels" ... I don't know if this counts as a "new restaurant" for my 101 list, but it may... egg and cheese and a cinnamon roll... I love cinnamon! Then John and I took the train into the city, I love subways. We got off and walked to South Street Seaport (beautiful place, you must go there) then we went on "The Shark" its a fast boat ride around the NYC harbor... We rode over to the statue of Liberty, and hit a lot of bumps, we also went right under the Brooklyn Bridge and up to one of the four fake water falls they have on display from some European artist... art is strange. Then we got off and went on the grey line bus tour of Downtown Brooklyn. Our tour guide was AMAZING. He knew so much about NYC and history and pop culture and movies and famous people and art and.... on and on... basically this guy is Ken Burns with a NYC accent. It was so awesome. I didn't want to get off the bus. We went around grand army plaza, and down Flatbush and Atlantic Avenues... we saw a mall that looks like Ebbet's Field and a public housing complex that now sits on the old site of the real Ebbet's Field! Basically it was a wonderful tour! I tipped the guy 10 bucks and told him he was so much better than the Thursday tour guide, and he said he knows cause he trains the other guides, and he says with some of them there is nothing he can do! I totally feel for him.

Then John and I walked off for the Pomme Frits experience. Across from the Stomp theater there is this tiny hole in the wall place where you can get really good french fries... seriously, thats all they sell, french fries and dipping sauce. It was yummy! Then we walked about 20 min through the East Village to a vegetarian shoe store I wanted to check out. Its called Moo Shoes and they have a lot of stuff online, I wanted to see the stuff in person. I was a little disappointed though, cause most of the stuff online wasn't in the store, they didn't great me when I walked in... which was almost a good thing... no one asked to help me... and the stuff was way too expensive and they only had like 4 designs of dressy work shoes for women... but they had a really fluffy kitty and that was nice :)

Then we hopped back on the Subway for home. On the way there was this cute little boy, maybe 10 years old singing songs out loud :) He even sang a song about the Nintendo DS, which I think he started to play after he saw me playing mine :) At home we had vegetarian chicken nuggets ( I love Quorn!) and Kraft mac and cheese deluxe!! Watched some Daily and Colbert and now its bed time.

Tomorrow we have to pack and I'm hoping to meet up with my twin nonja (sic) who I haven't seen in years (and yeah, thats an inside thing that only one person will understand) But good night, my battery is almost dead, pictures and more words later!

Hi from America!

I have been back in America for a week now, and I have spent the last week thinking about this post. I have come up with so many different titles its ridiculous! The thing is, I have some things I want to talk about, but I think some of them might be a little offensive... If I want to say offensive things about Korea, its ok... that's not my home country... I'm an outsider there, its to be expected that I feel strange in Korea... But to be honest... I experienced more culture shock upon my arrival in America than I did when I entered Korea.

The first, and most obvious difference between these two countries was visible the moment I stepped off the plane in Washington DC... I am thin here. Now initially I was thinking "YAY! I am thin again" But the more time I spend in shopping malls, theme parks and other such public venues, the more depressed I become. The state of American health... or rather unhealthy... is really quite sad. I remember when I lived in Buffalo and I would be watching TV and they would have the show about obesity, and they would show all the shoulders-down shots of extremely fat people and I would thing "Man, where did they find that many morbidly obese people?" And now, after spending a year in a country where most of the people are smaller than me (I now fit into a size 8 pants!) I can see that the news men could have shot that footage virtually anywhere.

I really don't know what to think about this, except that my country is very very sick, and needs help soon. No wonder we spend so much on health care. People are told by their doctors "You have to lose weight, eat right and exercise or you will DIE"... and what do they do here? They die. Unfortunately I had a friend that this happened too when I was much younger... I thought it was really sad, but since there were so many obese people around me, I just accepted it as the way of life.

Now, this isn't to say that there are zero fat Korean people, that would be a complete lie. But the thing is they are really uncommon... but if you look at the kids, things are changing. Our American lifestyle is spreading across the globe. People are getting lazy, eating poorly and getting really fat. Now I know some people will read this and think I am some evil skinny bitch, but to be honest, I really have felt overweight for the last year that I lived in Korea... A size 8 is one size fits all in Korea.... So I am pretty big for Korea... I don't know if that helps to soften the blow of what I have been saying.

The question is this... Is this ok? Is it OK that Americans are so indulgent that our bodies cannot even keep up with our lifestyle? We eat so much more than we need to that it all just gets stored as excess fat on our body... I think its great that the cost of gas is going up in America... its still half what it is in Korea. We need to walk more, and eat less. Eat more veggies and less M&Ms. People are buying a Prius when they need a new car, but are they eating less meat to reduce their carbon emmissons? I don't think so. Even though eating less meat and more veggies would help them to be healthier inside and outside. But anyway, Im getting to extreme now Im sure...

On the lighter size, I am keeping track of how many Prius and Hummer vehicles I see on my vacation, since I dont really see any of those in Korea... Here is the current count
Prius 13
Hummer 3

Perhaps later I will write about more of the positive things about my vacation, I just really had to get this observation of my chest, sorry.