BEDIM 4 - May the Fourth Be With You

Star Wars Day!
I was one of the kids born and raised in the years after the original Star Wars trilogy, so I don't really have any memory of the first time watching it. I was in Middle school when the prequel trilogy started to release (and therefore too young to yet realize how annoying Jar Jar was, to my everlasting shame), but no matter the love or hate people have for any particular Star Wars movie, I like them all.

Ok, so I'm going to use the random topics generator....and the topic is:
"A Movie Poster that has Affected You"

There is a cool trend/genre in art in which people make their own minimalist versions of movie posters, some of which are really amazing. (Fan art? Did I just admit I like it?) For this topic, the first movie poster that pops into my mind is this one:

I love it! I love how there is an hourglass(for time-travel), full moon (for the werewolf), and the line from MacBeth, which was used as lyrics to a song in the film, and the melody from the song being a significant motif throughout the film score. I feel like Prisoner of Azkaban was a big turning point in the film franchise, and I loved the creativity and darkness that wasn't in the previous films; I feel like this simple poster really captures the feel of the movie (at least for me).

Some of my very good friends worked for the movie theater in my hometown, and occasionally the theater would get rid of their extra posters by just giving them away, and I was able to pick up a few as well. True, the popular posters always vanished first, but I still got a few that looked cool, even if I hadn't seen the movies they were for. I got the full-sized, double-sided posters of Hellboy II, Terminator Salvation, Battle for Terra, Best Dad in the World, and maybe one or two more. As a fan of cinema, just having those few posters is kind of fun. I did use the "Best Dad" poster for a Fathers' Day surprise when I put a cut-out of my own dad's head on the poster and hung it up in the house. It was super lame, but it was fun to make and it saw the light of day for probably the only time in its existence.

So, dear readers(are there any?), has there ever been a movie poster that has affected you? Tell me all about it!

BEDIM 3 - TV Shows and Woes

Back in college, must've been the Fall semester of 2009, I started watching a fun little show on TV called "Glee." I liked it because it was funny and subtle and they used music to tell parts of the plot and develop story lines.
Then it got even more mega popular and it seemed to changed. Now I watch the show because I usually like the music (which doesn't have as much to do with the plot besides the lyrics fitting someone's mood), but hardly care at all about any of the characters. A couple weeks ago, an episode ended with a big cliffhanger when a character was smashed into while driving. During the moments after the screen went black, I was thinking to myself, "I hope she died, I hope she died," and not because I hated the character, but because I was hoping that it would force the show to change things up, to have a different direction for a bit, instead of what seems to have been preachy episodes one after another.
Turned out the character lived. Why can't I just stop watching the show?

Lucky for me - and the whole world - there is another show that is so much more fun and enjoyable, called "Parks and Recreation." Parks and Rec is the happiest show on TV and I have loved it since my best friend introduced me to it a couple years ago. If I have a long or bad day at work, I can watch an episode and feel better afterward. Isn't great that at TV show can do that? If there are other shows that are positive and funny and lovable, I want to know about them!

I just had the thought that instead of blogging every day, exercising every day would probably do me better...

BEDIM 2 - Lady Gaga and Nintendo

Last weekend I went to the Olympic Stadium in Seoul to see Lady Gaga kick off her Born This Way World Tour.
The whole day was long, but pretty fun. There were a couple in the group, but only my friend and I got off work early. He and I went to the stadium and picked up our tickets, and we were there early enough that we were each given a designer water bottle. How fancy of them! We arrived early enough that we had plenty of time to go down a stop and get dinner at Coex (the biggest mall I've been to) and still get back to the stadium with time to spare.
The show was pretty fun. We were dead center, but pretty far back along with thousands of other people, but they were way into the show and it was still lots of fun. The set was a HUGE castle, the costumes were crazy, and the dance numbers were all really amazing. Lady Gaga did almost every single song in her catalog, so there wasn't much to complain about. Sadly I didn't get any pictures during the show because my camera doesn't do well in the dark without a flash.
After the show, we all piled into my friend's car and made the trip home. We made a wrong turn and got to see part of the city twice, and later we stopped at Hongdae for food. We didn't actually get back home until 2:30 am or so.
It was a long day, but so fun!

Here are some pictures I did NOT take of the show:
The set was HUGE!


One of the dozen or so costumes she wore:

The HUGE crowd! I was sitting just about at the left edge of the picture,right above the white row of lights, do you see me?



Today I wore my favorite T-shirt, the blue one I got from Nintendo World in NYC, and the students commented on it all day. Yay me for having a cool shirt!
I love Nintendo! My family got a SNES when I was in kindergarten with Super Mario World. I've played that game so much. I don't personally know anyone better than I am at that precious little game (Youtube isn't personal), but I love to play it with people still. Last year I was playing the original Super Mario Bros. on my Wii with my Grandma (who had the original game on the NES) and it was so fun! I got a little anxious a few times when I wanted to yell "Jump, Grandma! Jump!" but I held my tongue and watched her kill Mario a few times. It was awesome! I also got her to play Mario Kart Wii that same day, figuring that in that game turning the controller actually turns your car too, so it should be a bit easier to pick up. It wasn't, but I still had a great time.
Another Nintendo game that holds a special place in my heart is The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past. I spent countless hours with my friends in their basement taking turns playing and figuring out the puzzles and dungeons. There was one time where we decided to make a cake, but for some reason it never reached the oven, so we sat watching each other playing the game and ate the entire bowl of funfetti cake batter. As far as I remember, no one got sick from that either.

Best game ever? Probably.


Ok, so Day 2 has two completely unrelated topics with no segue to be found. I don't have any set plans or big ideas for upcoming days or topics, so if there are any readers that have an interesting topic idea, please message me!
See you tomorrow!

BEDIM 1 - Blog Every Day In May

Well, it's May. A friend of mine did a thing on his Youtube channel last year called "VEDIM" (Vlog Every Day In May) and I though that it was a good idea, so I'm doing a BEDIM (the B stands for Blog). My friend DID sorta give up around the 24th, and I'm half expecting to do the same, but I'll try to finish successfully nonetheless. Since I'm sure that I'll have a hard time thinking of something new and amazing every day, I'll likely use the "random topics generator" I found online, so you can expect to read some random stuff too.
Does all this sound completely uninteresting yet?
So. I've been in Korea 9 months this week. Time seems to speed up the older I get. I wonder how it must feel for someone in their 80s... I only have 3 months left (give or take a few days), and I'm already looking for a job for when I get back. I have to admit that the whole job-hunt is kind of depressing and definitely frustrating. It seems that all the places that I feel qualified to work have requirements that would take me a couple more years to attain. Anyway, though it's not exactly fun, it is a chance for me to start again and choose a new direction to go. (I sound like Chris Traeger from Parks and Rec. Lit'rally.)
Well, today at work I volunteered to work an extra few hours to help out with movie night (It's two extra hours and more money than I could shake a stick at), so I'm in for a long day, but at least for movie night it will be easy. I think we'll be watching Toy Story with the students.
Speaking of Toy Story, I have a fond memory regarding that movie: back in 1995, my dad took me and my brothers to that movie. It was fun. That's all.

After reading over what I've written so far, I worry. If this is what my first BEDIM is like, I'm afraid that the rest will be just awful. If I don't post this blog on Facebook then it doesn't seem to get read, so maybe people won't notice?

Well, anyway, here it goes...

Is Anyone Alive Out There?

It's been a while. Again. When I started this blog I was writing in it pretty regularly, but not anymore...
I wonder if anyone reads this blog...I'm not going to post this entry to facebook and see what the traffic is like. Regardless, I'll try to keep it updated. It's good for me to write stuff out once in a while.
Things to look forward to in upcoming blogs:
- Yongin Traditional Village
- Lady Gaga World Tour
- Nintendo
- Books I've read/am reading
- Music and stuff

Let me know (if you are reading this) if there's anything you'd like me to write about.
Adieu for now.

Merry Christmas! (Or, The Return of the Prodigal Blogger)

I'm back! It must be a Christmas miracle! It's been a few months since I've written for this blog, and for any possible readers who have possibly noticed, sorry!
Because I've not written in a while, I have a couple posts-worth of stuff to write, but this post right here and now is going to be about my own here and now.


Being on this side of the world has a few advantages, namely, holidays are sorta twice as long: I'll be able to vicariously experience Christmas again on the 26th when I Skype my family on their Christmas morning since there is such a time difference. I wonder if my little package got to them in time?
My own Christmas here has been wonderful. There has been a perfect amount of snow in the English Village to make it look like Hogsmeade and feel nice and holiday-like. I was also able to get work off on Christmas Day (thanks to my weekend boss having a heart), and I was able to go to church and visit with my good friends.

This picture is of the mentioned "Good Friends"

After work on Christmas Eve I traveled to Seoul to spend time with the other single people from church, and we had a nice dinner and a fun gift exchange. I spent the night with a very kind and generous family in Seoul, so getting to services in the morning was really quite easy and quick, which itself was very good because I woke up about 13 minutes before I had to leave (more on that story if you ask for it...actually, no, it's a boring story that goes like this: my phone [alarm] battery died in the night and I thus overslept). For the record, I showered and even still made it to church on time!


My plans for Christmas evening is to go to dinner with many of the people from work to a restaurant called "On The Border" and it has nothing to do with the Korean border it sits so close to. It's actually a Mexican restaurant, and REALLY good. I know this because I had Thanksgiving dinner there last month. Anyway, because I had a few hours before dinner time, and I don't want to go back to EV and then come back to Seoul, I decided to go back to the church to play piano or read or whatever to pass the time. I did have the idea to write a blog post, but then again I've had that idea since September. Turns out, I was bumped off the only piano left by the time I got here because the Korean branch is having a Christmas thing here tonight and they needed the piano. I felt ok about relinquishing the piano because a group came in with a cello, a clarinet, and probably other instruments that I didn't notice because I was grabbing my stuff to leave. I searched for any other piano, but failed to find one, so I found a mostly comfy chair in the main foyer just off the chapel to do the unthinkable: write a blog post.


So here I am, writing this thing. The Koreans are rehearsing for their Christmas program and it sounds wonderful; the arrangements for the carols are amazing, and the pianist is phenomenal! I'm a little jealous. Speaking of Piano stuff, I finally watched and heard someone play Rachmaninoff's Prelude in C# minor, and it made me happy to know that it is actually possible to play and that a person with only 10 fingers is fully capable of playing it. It gives me hope. Not that it's the most challenging piece, but of the pieces that I want to learn, it's probably the trickiest. (How does one manage the thumbs?!)

All in all, it has been a wonderful Christmas. I've been able to Skype with my family and spend time with my friends, as well as have really good food that I even helped to make. I think I've been able to have a meaningful Christmas this year because it really wasn't about the decorations or presents - I didn't have anything more that an advent calendar made of plastic wrap and ribbon and candy to decorate my apartment with. I only even watched the first 20 minutes of A Christmas Story (I did watch Flick lick the flagpole). I listened to Christmas music and stayed in touch with family and friends. I wrote a few cards, I read Luke 2. I sang along to carols in church. What more could I ask for?

This Christmas has been wonderful! I love you all!

P.S. My mom said I should post some pictures that I took at the Seoul Lantern Festival last month, so here you go! It was really pretty, and they were all just lanterns!

This one mimics the entrance to a famous palace in Seoul.

This very life-like lantern is an example of a modern, mid-twenties American, with traditional Korean Children playing the background.

Tiger. Tiger, tiger, tiger....

This lantern was really huge, maybe 25-30 feet tall!

Lanterns in a tree...obviously...

I kid you not, this enormous peacock flapped its wings and belched flames. Flames!

Merry Christmas!

Chuseok! A Happy Holiday!

Last week we had around 500 students again, but these kids were quite a bit more fun than the previous set. They were more outgoing and willing to participate in class. Friday we had our closing ceremony in the concert hall, but this time there were two musical numbers. There were a couple of boys that had a dancing group at their school, so they performed for everyone during the auspicious occasion. The kids all seemed to enjoy the dances, as is evident by the constant screaming and cheering in the following video.

On Saturday I went shopping for stuff to make a pasta salad that never actually came to be, but while traveling to the store I passed this strange house:

It was made out of dark purple glass! It was the first actual "glass house" I'd ever seen, but as I looked around more as I traveled, I noticed other glass houses to, some dark blue, others sky blue, some black...I wonder why?
Later, when I was at the store, I was browsing for food, and I came across the "International Cuisine" isle. The various countries featured the expected traditional foods: Japan's section had rice and different sauces and stuff, Italy had various pastas, France had some breads and fine chocolates. And then dear ole America had nothing but candy.

It was so funny to me! I had to take the picture. I was happy that there were Mentos in a three-pack for super cheap, so I totally stocked up/went crazy on those. I could eat a Mentos roll everyday for almost a month. I might do it, too.

Here is a picture on the train going into the heart of Seoul.

 While waiting for a certain bus to arrive....

This week, Korea celebrates Chuseok. From what I've gathered, it is a mix of Memorial Day and Thanksgiving. Families all gather and visit ancestral burial places and such. There is  HUGE cemetery by EV and yesterday there were countless cars and  families lining the streets. Because of this holiday, no students come to EV, so the teachers are given the week off! Paid vacation rocks!
To start out the week, I, along with some coworkers (now classified as friends) went to a theme park called Everland! It was very fun, and I took lots of pictures. Instead of doing another photo dump, I made a video using the pictures and videos from my camera (set to music of course), and I hope you like it! I doubt it will have 18,000 views though.
If the video of me on the spinning ride makes you dizzy, just imagine being on the ride itself...

After the park, we stood for about 45 minutes on a really crowded bus back to Seoul, then subway'd back to the other bus station, but the buses were finished for the night. We ended up taxiing back to EV with a very confused cab driver. When I got back in my apartment around 1:20 or so I was so tired! I fell asleep as soon as I got in bed.
It was a great day!