big korean bang ;)

Big Bang shot by Terry Richardson in this month's Arena. (Click for more!)

Today I bought some last minute things and gifts... Gifts. So hard sometimes. I also bought a mask so that I don't get H1N1 on the plane or on my layover in Japan. The mask wasn't my idea, but I thought about it after someone asked if I had one and I think it kind of makes sense? Haha or maybe my kimchi genes will kick in and keep it all away. (Korea's reason for zero SARS cases and only 2 mild influenza cases? KIMCHI.)

Okay gotta pack...

Last days

My Macbook won't turn on... It's just the grey screen with an apple in the middle and the wheel that goes around and around and won't stop... sigh.

I guess my computer is telling me that it's time to go home! I'm flying out of Seoul on Monday.

The Korean media is in a frenzy covering the former President, Roh Moo-Hyun's death. He had been under public scrutiny and police investigation for allegedly accepting bribes during his presidency. Today it was reported that he jumped off a cliff while hiking in the morning. I think high-profile suicides are out of control these days in Korea. The media zeros in on the death and how it occured without any follow-up afterwards to prevent future suicides.

I feel like I'm watching a Korean drama sometimes when I watch the news.

친구야~

I don't have very many Korean friends in Korea because, well, I've never lived here before. Sometimes I'll come across people I instantly want to befriend - they range from the sudden urge to say hi to a Mormon missionary to random girls on the subway clearly studying for their TOEFLS, and people who just seem like they'll have a good story to tell. I've realized that befriending a stranger is a lot easier in the US because people won't look at you like a crazy person for smiling at them. (Or maybe I still look crazy in the States? Don't you sometimes start a conversation with someone on the subway? No? 내가 이상한가?)

Anyway, one day I was sitting on the 3003 bus from Seoul to Suwon late in the evening. The bus stopped at Gangnam Station and I saw a blonde girl get on the bus. Particularly eager to have an actual conversation with someone to make sure my English wasn't deteriorating (or maybe I just missed girl-talk?) I looked to see where she would sit and lo and behold she sat next to me! At that point I was thinking, "I probably look like a local to her... I should say hello! But that would be a little awkward. What if she's not American??" While contemplating, I accidentally tapped her leg with my foot as I was uncrossing my legs and quickly exclaimed, "sorry!" which then made her get out of her seat because she thought that I was getting off the bus. I said, "no no! It's okay I'm not getting off" and she sat back down.

Two seconds later we both turned our heads to one another and asked at the same time,

"Where are you from??"

Jenny and I have been having lunch almost every week ever since! Ah, meet-cutes haha :)

While my photos still remain in my memory card...

Sunday nights are perfect for some quick photoshopping and thinking about blog posts but right now I just... can't. It's not that I'm uninspired or anything but I had a whirlwind of a trip down the entire east coast of South Korea this past weekend and everything hasn't soaked in yet.

I'm seriously lyrically challenged (sometimes I wonder how I memorized all those songs in 8 or so years of being in a choir) therefore I have no idea what the lyrics are to this song - but right now her voice puts my heart and mind at ease. If you have any idea what words are being accompanied to this hauntingly beautiful melody, please share because I will never figure it out.

via for me, for you

Back!

Back from a great trip but it took some serious will power to keep myself from going to the PC Bangs in our hotel. (Note: PC Bang = Rooms with PCs that you pay by the hour)

Will update soon!

de la sol

www.solbeach.co.kr

My weekend starts early!

I'm heading to the East Sea and will be staying at a resort in YangYang called Sol Beach and then head to GyeongJu to get a good Korean history lesson, thanks to my uncle!

Seoul Treasures

Here:

vintage stores

no huge apartment complexes

old and new together

boutiques

cafe lover's dream

small streets, old buildings, new buildings, interesting architecture

alleys that make you feel that this is what korea was like a long time ago.

Deservedly so.

On May 5th, Korea celebrates Children's Day.

I remember when I was attending elementary school in Illinois, the principal always wore a pin that said "Everyday is Children's Day". I thought to myself, "Pshh yeah sure, but we don't get days off of school because it's Children's Day like they do in Korea!"

All ridiculous childhood rants aside, I've come to see first hand that these kids really deserve a break. As I see my cousin come home at 10:30 p.m. from his high school on weekdays because of mandatory studying sessions and go to school every other Saturday, witness 3 year olds saying bye to their moms as they go to day care/preschool, third graders go from piano lessons to tutoring sessions to hakwons to more tutoring, these kids seriously deserve a day when their parents don't go to work and devote an entire day to them.

A few months ago, President Obama compared the U.S. education system to that of South Korea's and noted, "Our children spend over a month less in school than children in South Korea every year. That's no way to prepare them for a 21st-century economy." [source] Obama wants to see longer school days and better after-school programs in the States but will the children oblige? No, wait. Will the teachers oblige?

Korea's education system is by no means perfect and I find myself criticizing it a lot, but I do think it's time for the U.S. to step up its game in education. There are too many forgotten children in our schooling systems. (And honestly, my math and science skills? Completely useless compared to what these kids are learning in Korea.)

Kids who make me feel old on a regular basis.

Seoul: Prada Transformer

Rem Koolhaas' tetrahedron-shaped pavilion for Prada Transformer is a 6 month installation in Gyeonghui Palace (경희궁). The steel-framed random white structure that looks out of place will host 4 events all the while rolling over between exhibitions to create a new environment for each event. I can't really explain it so just go here.

Inside:

The debut event: Waist Down - Skirts by Miuccia Prada

Huge runway cutouts, robot mannequins swaying/spinning skirts, vacuum sealed skirts, some skirts by Korean design students

Outside:

with Jenny

Dear Joseph,

People ask me with wide eyes how I adapt so quickly to the different situations I am put in or put myself in (i.e. moving to California, going to school in Boston, living in Korea...) but I shrug because I really don't think what I'm doing is a big deal. I sit here, writing this, and it's taken me 20 years to realize (well, 16, since you were born when I was 4) that I've acquired this skill of adaptability through you.

You were born with a left arm that ends right below your elbow, but I don't remember seeing you come home from the hospital and thinking that anything was different. I've tried countless times to remember when I realized your arm was a little different but I can't. To me you were my younger brother and ever since you were born, Barbies no longer held much importance in my life.

We were both always surrounded by such a loving family and supportive community that it kind of startled me when a random ahjussi (older man) came up to me and asked me about you while we were on vacation in Korea. That pissed me off at the tender age of 10 so much that I mouthed off to him, "why dont you go ask him if you're so curious!" and walked off. I found myself getting questioned by adults when we went to theme parks together and feeling the same way in the states. Funny how little kids can shrug off little differences or not notice them at all but adults will probe you with questions, huh Joe?

You never need help with anything. You always find a way to work around things. You were playing Nintendo with your left foot and right arm at the age of 6, typing on the computer with your left arm and right hand by 11. You've always been a problem solver, an adapter, and that's what's so brilliant about you.

I don't think there have been many things that I have taught you as an older sister, but you have taught me so much. Thank you and I love you.

Love,

Nuna

P.S. If you ever stop calling me nuna, jookneundah~

evenings like these

A grandmother sitting in front of a vintage store  in SamCheongDong, Seoul.

When I sit down and look at the photos I took during the day, I can't help but be amazed by the perfect timing we are given in our lives to take a photo of something to treasure and share for years. It's those fate and chance laced moments that make me so thankful to have a camera.