Thanksgiving is tomorrow. I will be spending mine being thankful that there is only one more day in the workweek. I will get up and go to the gym, then spend 8 hours at work, head to my apt to do some laundry, go back to the gym for an hour or two before my hapkido lesson then have Thanksgiving Dinner at a chinese resturant with Miguel, possibly drink a few beers and go to sleep. Only to wake up on friday go back to the gym, work for 8 hours, gym it up before hapkido, and go to sleep.....anyone see a pattern?
Im not saying that having a routine is a bad thing, and im sure that the fact that a 3rd of my day is spent excercising is doing me alot of good...but damn is boring. The weather here has continued to be cold, bringing with it alot of mist and rain, which does not help me get out of my apt. There is a bright side though. I have been able to start saving some money for Thiland, Cambodia, and Vietnam later next year, which will be worth it. I have also commited to Hapkido 5 days a week, so by the time i get back home hopefully none of you will recognize me. I am running in a 10k that my gym is sponsoring in a few weeks, so i have been training for that and getting a decent time down for someone of my running ability. This weekend a group of foreigners have a cabin rented for sat night for a few birthday celebrations which should be a blast.
I dont really have much else to say at the moment.
I have been thinking alot about the holidays recently, it is going to be a change of pace here. Im not sure if the christmas spirit can drift all the way to korea, but we will see.
take care
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Our Endless Numbered Days
there are things that drift away, like our endless numbered days. autumn blew the quilt right off the perfect bed she made, and she has chosen to believe in those hymns her mother sings, sunday pulls its children from their piles of fallen leaves.
Its cold. Colder than Cold. Ice Cold. Siberia Cold. Literally. Our wind whips down from siberian plains, and freezes you to the core. I thought I knew the cold, and living in boone for so long I thought that we had become friends. As it turns out, I knew Cold's kid brother Chilly and his twin sister Breezy. I have now been fully introduced to the reckless sonofabitch Cold himself, and his wife Frigid. Even the snow here thinks that Cold is too cold for his own good. Because when it falls it doesnt even attempt to stick around, it flees into gutters and through every door crack it can find to get away from that icy bastard Cold and his mistress.
I have figured out that no matter where you are in the world, an hour or two of walking in the cold with a cup of coffee and some music will do both fantastic and utterly destructive things to your mind, while parts of your head will be breaking itself down, wondering why it is doing what its doing, what really were its motivations, how did it come to be somewhere so unfamiliar, somewhere so cold, with no woodstove to sit next to. Yet the other part of your mind will realize that the vanilla in your coffee has never tasted so much like home, that your jacket has never been more comfortable, the the music in your head never been more beautiful, and how every pile of leaves on the ground looks like one you played in before when you were younger. Somehow its this part of your brain that is making you smile and lift your head while you're walking in the face of that Bastard Cold, while everyone else has their head bowed and face covered. Its this part of your brain that is causing your footsteps to act more like dance moves, and your stride meets that of your music. Your brain balances emotions like a tray of drinks at a salsa bar. You weave through gaps in the room swaying just enough to make things interesting, but fluid enough to not spill a drop. Its this balance that lets you notice that across the room the girl in the red dress just smiled at you.
mabey its not that cold after all.
After all I'm just a boy with a coin.
Its cold. Colder than Cold. Ice Cold. Siberia Cold. Literally. Our wind whips down from siberian plains, and freezes you to the core. I thought I knew the cold, and living in boone for so long I thought that we had become friends. As it turns out, I knew Cold's kid brother Chilly and his twin sister Breezy. I have now been fully introduced to the reckless sonofabitch Cold himself, and his wife Frigid. Even the snow here thinks that Cold is too cold for his own good. Because when it falls it doesnt even attempt to stick around, it flees into gutters and through every door crack it can find to get away from that icy bastard Cold and his mistress.
I have figured out that no matter where you are in the world, an hour or two of walking in the cold with a cup of coffee and some music will do both fantastic and utterly destructive things to your mind, while parts of your head will be breaking itself down, wondering why it is doing what its doing, what really were its motivations, how did it come to be somewhere so unfamiliar, somewhere so cold, with no woodstove to sit next to. Yet the other part of your mind will realize that the vanilla in your coffee has never tasted so much like home, that your jacket has never been more comfortable, the the music in your head never been more beautiful, and how every pile of leaves on the ground looks like one you played in before when you were younger. Somehow its this part of your brain that is making you smile and lift your head while you're walking in the face of that Bastard Cold, while everyone else has their head bowed and face covered. Its this part of your brain that is causing your footsteps to act more like dance moves, and your stride meets that of your music. Your brain balances emotions like a tray of drinks at a salsa bar. You weave through gaps in the room swaying just enough to make things interesting, but fluid enough to not spill a drop. Its this balance that lets you notice that across the room the girl in the red dress just smiled at you.
mabey its not that cold after all.
After all I'm just a boy with a coin.
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Stay committed to your decisions, but stay flexible in your approach.
"when all that is left is a simple shadow,
what will we want it to say.
Will it contain the colors of our dreams?
Or just the darkness of our fears?
Will it speak with the last sorrows,
of our short time here?
Or divulge our simple desire to smile?"
“When we're incomplete, we're always searching for somebody to complete us. When, after a few years or a few months of a relationship, we find that we're still unfulfilled, we blame our partners and take up with somebody more promising. This can go on and on--series polygamy--until we admit that while a partner can add sweet dimensions to our lives, we, each of us, are responsible for our own fulfillment. Nobody else can provide it for us, and to believe otherwise is to delude ourselves dangerously and to program for eventual failure every relationship we enter.”
“To achieve the impossible; it is precisely the unthinkable that must be thought.”
“Our Similarities bring us to a common ground; Our Differences allow us to be fascinated by each other”
“There is no such thing as a weird human being, It's just that some people require more understanding than others”
“Religion is not merely the opium of the masses, it's the cyanide.”
“We're our own dragons as well as our own heroes, and we have to rescue ourselves from ourselves.”
“Humanity has advanced, when it has advanced, not because it has been sober, responsible, and cautious, but because it has been playful, rebellious, and immature.”
“I believe in nothing, everything is sacred. I believe in everything, nothing is sacred.”
Using words to describe magic is like using a screwdriver to cut roast beef”
“The highest function of love is that it makes the loved one a unique and irreplacable being.”
“Politics is for people who have a passion for changing life but lack a passion for living it”
“When they tell you to grow up, they mean stop growing.”
what will we want it to say.
Will it contain the colors of our dreams?
Or just the darkness of our fears?
Will it speak with the last sorrows,
of our short time here?
Or divulge our simple desire to smile?"
“When we're incomplete, we're always searching for somebody to complete us. When, after a few years or a few months of a relationship, we find that we're still unfulfilled, we blame our partners and take up with somebody more promising. This can go on and on--series polygamy--until we admit that while a partner can add sweet dimensions to our lives, we, each of us, are responsible for our own fulfillment. Nobody else can provide it for us, and to believe otherwise is to delude ourselves dangerously and to program for eventual failure every relationship we enter.”
“To achieve the impossible; it is precisely the unthinkable that must be thought.”
“Our Similarities bring us to a common ground; Our Differences allow us to be fascinated by each other”
“There is no such thing as a weird human being, It's just that some people require more understanding than others”
“Religion is not merely the opium of the masses, it's the cyanide.”
“We're our own dragons as well as our own heroes, and we have to rescue ourselves from ourselves.”
“Humanity has advanced, when it has advanced, not because it has been sober, responsible, and cautious, but because it has been playful, rebellious, and immature.”
“I believe in nothing, everything is sacred. I believe in everything, nothing is sacred.”
Using words to describe magic is like using a screwdriver to cut roast beef”
“The highest function of love is that it makes the loved one a unique and irreplacable being.”
“Politics is for people who have a passion for changing life but lack a passion for living it”
“When they tell you to grow up, they mean stop growing.”
Monday, November 2, 2009
thoughts
im sitting in my office. Its about 30 degrees outside, and i have no heat. Im looking out the window and all i want right now is a venti soy vanilla latte, from a coffee shop i would rather not name. Its strange to me how in a region of the world that was built upon tea, how little of it people actually drink. They prefer this terrible knock off instant coffee loaded with sugar, in an attempt to become more of a western society. the novelty of it escapes me.
halloween here was an experience. since most koreans do not dress up, we kept getting many a strange look as our crowd was walking through the streets of Hongdae. as well as the fact that it was pissing rain all night kept the rowdyness to a minimum. granted, all of us still managed to have some fun, and cause a little trouble. No halloween is complete with out at least one drag queen fight, a hilarious skateboarding accident, and an across town dash to a bar with free alcohol.
since the weekend has ended, and another week of not teaching began, i have stocked up on groceries at my apartment, and attempting my hand at a few koeran dishes. I want to cook some stuff from back home for a few of the teachers here but i am finding it difficult to come up with some of the necessities. For example, there are no proper sausages here...they eat tons of pork products, but when i try to find sausage...they give me hotdogs. its really not cutting it.
I did however get to try a really traditional and special food here the other day and that was live octopus, they serve it over rice and a few veggies, and some spicy chili sauce...then at your table bring over the little octopus in a jar of water and pull it out, chop it up. and place it (still wiggiling) onto your plate. suprisingly, if you can get past the texture, the moving tentacles, and the fishyness. It is great.
overall im really liking most korean food, but
next week, im going to try dog soup.
halloween here was an experience. since most koreans do not dress up, we kept getting many a strange look as our crowd was walking through the streets of Hongdae. as well as the fact that it was pissing rain all night kept the rowdyness to a minimum. granted, all of us still managed to have some fun, and cause a little trouble. No halloween is complete with out at least one drag queen fight, a hilarious skateboarding accident, and an across town dash to a bar with free alcohol.
since the weekend has ended, and another week of not teaching began, i have stocked up on groceries at my apartment, and attempting my hand at a few koeran dishes. I want to cook some stuff from back home for a few of the teachers here but i am finding it difficult to come up with some of the necessities. For example, there are no proper sausages here...they eat tons of pork products, but when i try to find sausage...they give me hotdogs. its really not cutting it.
I did however get to try a really traditional and special food here the other day and that was live octopus, they serve it over rice and a few veggies, and some spicy chili sauce...then at your table bring over the little octopus in a jar of water and pull it out, chop it up. and place it (still wiggiling) onto your plate. suprisingly, if you can get past the texture, the moving tentacles, and the fishyness. It is great.
overall im really liking most korean food, but
next week, im going to try dog soup.
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