Adventures in Subbing

First graders are unreal adorable.
I've only subbed for 1st grade a few times, but each time I come home with a pile of artwork resembling the above piece.

New K-drama with 이민호!

Since my departure from Korea just over two months ago, I seem to have forgotten all the uber-frustrating times and I'm romanticizing my time there. My poor family and friends are undoubtedly sick of hearing about how much I miss Korea, about how certain things are better there (namely food portions that don't render one obese) and many have been subjected to lengthy K-pop video viewing sessions on Youtube.

I think I'm more obsessed with Korean pop culture now than I was when I lived there.

Case in point: today I didn't have any subbing jobs lined up, so I spent a good chunk of the day in my PJ's catching up on the K-drama that I'm addicted to, "Personal Taste," which stars Lee Minho of "Boys over Flowers" fame.

He's back!

I'm not in Korea anymore, but I'm guessing it's big there considering its popularity on Mysoju.com, where I watch it with English subtitles.

As was the case with 'Boys over Flowers," any success this show has cannot be attributed to captivating storyline or superb acting, because it's awful. Yet I keep watching, because of Lee Minho and his eye-candy appeal. There are lots of long, drawn out moments where the camera is zoomed in on his pretty face.

I also read on my favorite K-pop website that the snazzy, albeit feminine, clothes he wears on the show are highly sought after in Korea right now. I can just imagine the men of Seoul decked out in the frilly suit coats he sports on the show.

"Now where did I leave my murse?"


I love it though. Bring on the ruffles :)

Here's a sneak peek of "Personal Taste"

After traveling in Asia for a month, I wasn't exactly looking forward to coming back to Minnesota. Don't get me wrong, I love Minnesota, and someday I plan to move back here for good, but life is just a lot more exciting when you live abroad. I'll put it this way; a few weeks ago I was climbing the Great Wall of China. Now I spend my days job hunting and hanging out with a bunch of screaming toddlers fighting over which Scooby Doo movie to watch. (My mom is a daycare provider)

But things are looking up: summer in Minnesota means outdoor concert season, and I have three on the agenda already.

Rock the Garden
Rock the Garden is sponsored by the best radio station in the entire world, 89.3 The Current. (Not even exaggerating) The lineup has yet to be announced, but there are rumors that MGMT will be on the bill, which would make my summer.



Jack Johnson
I found out today that Jack Johnson, my all-time favorite musician, is touring to promote his new album 'To the Sea.' I've seen him twice already at Floatrite Park in Somerset, and I'll be buying tickets for his July 25th concert as soon as they go on sale this Saturday.



Lollapalooza
And finally, there's Lollapalooza in the beginning of August in Chicago's Grant Park. I'm not going to lie, Lady Gaga on the lineup cinched it for me, but I'm also a big fan of the The Strokes and The Black Keys.

She's crazy, but I love her!

I also begin my foray into the world of substitute teaching tomorrow. Thankfully, because I'm really, really tired of Scooby Doo.

Look Mom, I cooked!

(Written March 18th, 2010)

I just had the most amazing four-course Lao meal; cooked by yours truly!

Okay, "cooked" is maybe a strong word. I took an evening cooking course here in Luang Prabang, and the instructor had already prepared all the ingredients, I mostly just chopped vegetables and meat and pushed it around in a wok until he said it was done.

If cooking was always like this, as in the ingredients magically appeared before me in pre-portioned little bowls and I was under careful supervision, I might do it more often. (I am complete dunce in the kitchen, see previous posts for evidence)

My favorite dish we made was the "Panaeng Gai," which is chicken and minced pork in coconut sauce and chili paste. Mmmmm.

I even ate the "Tom Chaeow Pha," which is white Mekong fish with eggplant and galangai, or oyster mushrooms. As someone who utterly despises fish/seafood, even after 18 months in Korea, this was a big deal for me.

I wish I would have taken a similar course in Korea, because even though I tried all sorts of Korean dishes, I haven't a clue how they were prepared.

Lao cuisine is actually very similar to Thai cuisine, only they eat "khao nioouw" or sticky rice, with every meal rather than steamed rice. I tried sticky rice with eggplant dip for lunch today, and it was surprisingly delicious. When the waiter brought it to my table, I wasn't sure how to eat it, but you just use your hands. This would never fly in the States where we are perhaps overly concerned about food sanitation, but it was really good.

Tiger Kingdom

Last year when I visited Thailand, I really wanted to go to 'Tiger Temple' near Bangkok, which is advertised as a "sanctuary" for orphaned tigers run by Buddhist monks. I ended up running out of time and skipping it, but that turned out to be okay. Friends who visited later said that they dope the tigers so they're calm and sedated and tourists can come and take pictures with them, which I don't really agree with.

Also, at a lot of these animal tourist attractions in Thailand, the animals aren't treated very well**. Last year on Ko Chang we rode elephants that were kept chained up in little stalls when they weren't carting tourists around, and after that experience, I wasn't keen on supporting such tourist attractions.

However on my outing yesterday I met a friendly trio of Australians who had been to 'Tiger Kingdom' here in Chiang Mai, and they said that to their knowledge, the tigers weren't sedated, and they seemed to be treated well. So this morning I took a tuk-tuk out there before visiting the Pandas at Chiang Mai Zoo. (They wake them up at 3pm everyday for visitors)

Tiger Kingdom had different packages you could buy, and I splurged and paid about 50 USD for the 4 in 1 ticket, meaning I got to go in all four tiger cages; newborn, small, medium and "big cat." It sounded like a good deal, but when I was already scared of the 6 week old tiger that kept trying to bite me in the "newborn" cage, it wasn't a good sign.

Each cage/tiger size got increasingly terrifying. The scariest were the "medium" sized tigers, because they sat me down among three year-old tigers to take pictures. It was one of the scariest things I've ever done, and I was perfectly content snapping a few quick pictures and getting the heck out of that cage.

A very terrifying moment in life:


I was trembling when I went into the last cage with the "big cats," who were all around 21 months old. Luckily these ones were mostly napping and not as feisty as the smaller tigers. The staff told me to lay my head down on one tiger's belly for a photo, which I reluctantly did, and I heard its stomach gurgling!


It was well worth the 50 USD and a few heart-pounding minutes in each cage. If you ever find yourself in Chiang Mai (which you should, I absolutely love this city) it's worth checking out. And according to the signs, the tigers here are not drugged. It said that because the tigers have been raised in captivity, they are used to being around humans, and that tigers are generally more active at night. They are also fed twice a day (chicken, I asked) and therefore don't have the desire to hunt.

However, it was still an 'enter at your own risk' type of situation, and the ticket price includes healthcare costs if a tiger indeed bites your hand off.

**More info. about reports of animal abuse: http://thaiwildorchids.com/tiger-temple-abuse.htm

Greetings from Thailand!

Ko Samet, a little island about 3.5 hours from Bangkok by bus

My sister has been bugging me about updating this, so I'm just going to share a few snippets from my journal before I go visit a Hmong Hill tribe here in Chiang Mai (super excited about that!)

March 2nd, 2010 (Bus from Bangkok to Ko Samet)

I'm finding myself missing Korea already; pangs in the chest actually, and I get all excited about any Korea-related sightings here in Bangkok. Today the Girls Generation "Oh" music video was playing at Siam Center. I wonder how long this will last, or if I really will have to move back there, like my friends are encouraging.

It's nice seeing a classier side of Bangkok this time around. Staying in Josie and Mark's apartment is a lot different than staying in the madness that is Khao San Road like last year. And Siam Center (shopping mall) was really fancy, it had one of the nicest movie theaters I've ever been to.

March 5th (Plane to Phuket)

And I'm off! I've only had one minor setback on this trip so far, which was an excess baggage fee of 175,000 won at Incheon Airport, but otherwise it's going well so far. I did an overnight to Ko Samet with Mark and Josie, saw a Muay Thai boxing match last night, and now I'm headed south to Phuket.

I'm traveling (mostly) alone for a month, and my biggest fear going into this trip was getting my wallet, expensive camera, and/or passport stolen. In reality, it's more likely that I lose one of these myself considering I'm a total space cadet. The other day I took cash out of an ATM near Josie and Mark's apartment, and as I was walking away, a Thai lady chased me down and tapped me on the back. She had my receipt and ATM card in her hand! It makes me happy that there are honest people everywhere, even here in Bangkok, which people usually think of as shady.

Josie and Mark have been gracious hosts, letting me store my crap (and there's a lot of it) at their place in Bangkok while I'm off gallivanting. Still missing Korea...I got really excited last night at McDonald's (nothing else was open at 11 pm after the boxing match) when they played Super Junior and Big Bang. I miss speaking Korean too.

March 5th (Phi Phi Island)

Yikes. Phi Phi is a lot more expensive than anticipated. Also, I'm pretty sure it's one of the most beautiful places in the world, which means I have to share it with everyone in the world. This place (Ton Sai Village) is a zoo.. like mini Cancun or something. Maybe I'll find a more chill beach for tomorrow night.

They have all these awesome excursions though - sailing, snorkeling, camping trips to 'The Beach.' Definitely want to do one of those.

Seriously though, this is not at all how I pictured it. I thought it would be at least a little more remote. I'm kind of missing our calm, tranquil beach on Ko Samet.


March 6th (Phi Phi Island)

Found cheaper digs today (300 baht/night, which is about 9 USD) and some good swimming beaches. The beach here in the village (Ao Lo Dalum) at low tide was highly disappointing, but is great at midday. Then I booked the half day snorkel tour and got to swim with fish, see Ko Phi Phi Leh, and Maya Bay, a.k.a. "The Beach," which actually isn't that great. It's beautiful, but not the best swimming beach. The best part was the snorkeling for sure. It was amazing; so many fish, giant coral clusters...amazing. I want to go again if possible.

I ran into some Koreans getting on a cruise ship today, I was suspicous when I saw their matching towels and ajumma visors, (albeit more tropical-looking than the ones worn in Seoul) and I asked in Korean if they were indeed Korean. We chatted for a bit before boarding our respective boats, and it was nice to speak Korean again, even if only for a few minutes.

*More to come... have to head out now!

DMZ Tour

With my days in Korea winding down, there were two last things I wanted to check off my list. One was see a Big Bang concert, and the other was tour the DMZ. Unfortunately Big Bang didn't work out, but last Saturday my friend Bonnie and I went on the USO tour of the DMZ, and it was, in one word, fascinating. I can't believe I waited so long to do it.

For those of you who don't know, the DMZ (or Demilitarized Zone) is the strip of land running across the Korean Peninsula that serves as a buffer zone between North and South Korea. The DMZ cuts the Korean Peninsula roughly in half, crossing the 38th parallel. It is the most heavily guarded border in the world. (thank you, Wikipedia) It's also only about an hour by bus from Seoul.

The beginning of our tour took us to the Joint Security Area (or in Korean, Panmunjom), where North and South Korean soldiers stand face to face every day. The area is used by the two countries for diplomatic meetings. At one point our tour group was standing across from the main North Korean building, Panmungak, where a North Korean soldier was watching our every move through binoculars. We were told not to point or make any gestures in the direction of North Korean soldiers that could be used as propaganda, so during question time when a few members of our tour group forgot and starting pointing and gesturing, I freaked out a little bit. I had visions flashing in my head of the North Korean watching us whipping out a machine gun and blasting it in our direction. Luckily that never happened, and that was the only scary part of the tour.

The JSA - The conference buildings where the North and South hold meetings


Bonnie and I (and an ROK soldier) standing on either side of the Demarcation Line. Bonnie's on the North Korean side.


North Korean soldiers who came out to watch our tour group


The tour brought us to a few other historically significant spots, such as the site of the "Axe murder Incident" in 1976, where two U.S. Army officials were axed to death by DPRK soldiers while supervising a tree pruning. The tree was blocking sight lines between two security checkpoints on the JSA.

That was just one of many incidents that show the North Koreans haven't been holding up their end of the deal. The coolest part of the tour was crawling through "The 3rd Tunnel," one of four tunnels apparently designed for a surprise attack on Seoul from North Korea. North Korea first claimed they didn't dig it, but the direction of the dynamite blasts point towards South Korea. So then they claimed it was part of a coal mine, and there is actually black "coal" painted on the walls. However, experts have said coal is geologically unlikely in the area.

The last part of the tour took us to Imgingak, a park that was built around "Freedom Bridge," where at the end of the Korean war, 13,000 prisoners of war walked to freedom in the South. The story says that as they crossed the bridge, they cried out in thanks for their freedom, giving the bridge its name.

Because many families were separated after the war, the park was built to console those who are unable to return to their hometowns during important holidays, like this weekend's Lunar New Year. People come to the park instead and pray for their loved ones.

I've been living in Korea for almost a year and a half now, about an hour away from the North Korean border, yet in my day to day life here, North Korea doesn't affect me at all. When you live here, you forget that technically, the two countries are still at war. However, going on the tour reminded me of the reality of the situation. Families were separated, lives were lost, and the North Korean people continue to live in under a totalitarian dictatorship.

Man saying a prayer at Imjingak


Prayers for peace, reunification, loved ones at Freedom Bridge


More pictures of my DMZ tour here