Kimchee Guesthouse Seoul

If you're looking to stay in the Seoul Metropolitan area, look no further than Kimchee Guesthouse. For the buck, it goes a long way. It's located literally a few steps out of Sukmyeong Women's University station (exit 1) or you can walk to Seoul Station in less than 15 minutes. With its central location, it is convenient and easy to get around.

Scott, the owner, is super helpful and friendly. Feel free to ask him anything and he will do what he can to help you. The guesthouse has shared rooms as well as single private rooms at very reasonable prices. For example, my private room with private bathroom/shower was only $30 a night. Every room is equipped with a TV and, of course, the entire place has wireless internet for its guests.

As you walk out of exit 1, turn at the first right and go up a steep little hill, then make a left into the very first left (small alley). Kimchee Guesthouse will be on your right before the end. Link is on the bottom.

https://kimcheeguesthouse.com/seoulstation/

Quasi Blog Post, Kinda...

My last procrastination run lasted about 5 months so I thought I'd really out-do myself and wait 9 months this time! I WIN!!!! 

No, really, I lose. But, in my defense, I feel less and less inclined to write a post because I feel more and more assimilated. Is that a good thing? To a certain extent, yes. A lot of things don't phase me anymore and I don't feel compelled to write about it here because it's become rather commonplace or, in more technical terms, "Meh." But, then again, I DO NOT want to be THAT assimilated, lol. I still want some things to bother me! And, fear not, they do!

I have a backlog of pictures just waiting to be uploaded here and appropriately ridiculed. But, today's post is a little more serious. My buddy, Suzette Won, posted a link on her FB about Asians and their body image. It was an interesting read and I felt compelled to comment on it because there seemed to be a cultural disconnect from where the older generation might have been coming from and how we and the younger generation receive such admonishments about being "overweight." For context, please read the original article. It's not very long...here's the link:

http://www.xojane.com/issues/fat-for-an-asian-the-pressure-to-be-naturally-perfect

Finished? Okay. So I want to address a particular part of that discussion; the part where our elders feel the need to comment on our bodies (sometimes pretty openly and embarrassingly) and maybe even others'. I am not referring to our bitchy sisters or cousins or friends who are actually being assholes about it because they have their own issues, but the older peeps who just can't help but comment on our weight. And, in a twist, I am going to defend them. What, what, what?!? Read on....

I am going to play devil's advocate a bit, even though I am a Korean-American woman who is, by Asian standards, fat. Yes, it's very disheartening (at best) and outrageously, personally offensive (at worst) to be called "fat" by relatives or close friends (followed by a regimen to follow to help me lose said fat); the "American/Western" side of me totally feels that to the hilt. BUT...I can also see it from the flip side. For several millennia, it was very uncommon to be Asian and overweight (unless you had a rare genetic issue or some other physio/biological prob). Even if you were from a privileged class, it was hard to be fat as an Asian; just wasn't in the cultural gene pool. To be slim and petite was, and to a certain extent still is, the norm of the culture. I am in Korea now and it is still a rare sight to see a woman here who would be categorized as large or curvy. As a matter of fact, when I see someone who is just larger in general, I want to walk over to her and give her a big ol' high-five like a complete weirdo just to say, "Hey, I feel ya, girl."

But I'll tell you this, being bigger IS becoming more prevalent. The Korean diet is changing due to the introduction and appeal of Western foods, which are more fatty in general. People here are getting taller but they are also getting heavier. Genes can't outplay caloric bombardment...at least, not for long. So now put yourself in the shoes of our ethnic parents or the older generation or those who pretty much live in a culture of NOT being singular in any way. Conforming is considered best (at least it is in Korea and I know it's true in Japan as well). But once you start stepping over what they consider the norm (or, to them, the standard), they become concerned. When I think of it that way, I can't blame them for saying such things. Koreans have been smaller/thinner/petite(r?) for thousands of years and to expect that mindset to be changed just because Western culture believes it's rude to talk about someone's weight, well that's just as ignorant. Believe me, I've tried.
 
Try not to think of it as "Oh, they want me to lose weight because they think being fat is ugly" but more as they are pointing it out because culturally speaking, you are moving away from something that has been a certain way (in general) for thousands of years, at least from their perspective. Even more importantly, it might also be viewed as losing a certain part of the culture due to what is seen as external (ahem, Western) influences. I'm greatly Americanized and even I deeply feel the pain of seeing one's culture erode away bit by bit due to the juggernaut that is Western culture. They also know that when you're not conforming to the norm, you are likely  subject to ridicule from the group of which you are deviating. Do our loved ones want that for us? Of course not. And as much as I want to say that the West, particularly my beloved America, is more open-minded about being a little heavier/curvier, you can take one good look at the values of our media (and if we're honest, with ourselves) and see that we're not that far off from thinking that being thinner is far better than being larger. On a more individual basis, sure we're more evolved, but as a whole, we still have a long way to go.

My mom never saw a fat person in her whole life while she was in Korea. In her heyday, she was 4'11" and 89 lbs. So, when we moved to America, understandably she harangued me from middle school on until the end of my college years for being too big. In her eyes, it just wasn't natural and she also knew it wouldn't be good for me physically or socially. <<She also fed me like it was the last day of my life on a daily basis. Hello, paradox.>> But now, years later, I know where all that might have come from. And even though I am fine with what I look like now (and so is my mom, finally, after living in America for over 34 years, and being exposed to the variety of shapes and sizes that people come in), I can't and won't hold the words she has said to me against her because they just may have come from a very culturally defined place. 

These days, I am sure that a lot of Korean women are starving themselves to fit whatever is expected of them and that they're not just genetically destined to look that slim. I can't say where their individual motivation to be twiggy stems from. Maybe it's the monolithic K-pop movement that tells them what they should aspire to look like. Or maybe it's their own esteem issues. Or maybe it's still the desire not to look too different from everyone else. And everyone else here is still very, very thin. 

I know I am not the only one who has experienced this. Feel free to weigh in. Get it? Weigh in?). I kill me.

Will update with an another post soon; one that is more in-line with the usual tone of this blog.

Raging Procrastination and All The Stuffs Up Until Nao

Sooooooo, how YOU 'doin?

Yeah, it's been like 5 months since I last posted ~ aka almost half a year. Ugh.  What could I have possibly been doing?! Honestly, I don't have an excuse. I would get home, change, eat, play with Isa, then promptly watch anime, read manga, or just dump 5 - 6 hours of my evening into playing the WoW beta or, recently, Diablo 3. Amazing time sinks, the both of them, in case you didn't know already. But I CHOSE to do those things so, like I said, I have no excuse.

I could have happily continued to do those things and not have touched this blog for another 5 months but you know what got me off my ass? Not the guilt from neglecting my own project (though it has been gnawing at the back of my brain like a mouse gnawing on cheese - old, crusty cheese). Not the fact that a friend of mine (Slife/Joe) updates his blog almost every Monday like he said he would while I just flail/fail about. Not the fact that I have a growing collection of photos that I've promised I'd post but haven't, thereby becoming a lying liar that lies. No, good people, the thing that propelled...nay, compelled me to write this evening was this sight...which neatly segues into this installment's sponsor from the WTF category:

A street-side advertisement for Brazilian waxing...

In case the glare made you miss it, here's a close-up..

So, how could I NOT write about this?! This gorram, Brazilian-flag-tattoo-on-his-chest-having bear not only has a neatly trimmed landing strip, he also has a euro speedo tan, folks. Furthermore, for some reason, his bear junk casts a shadow on the ground that looks like a woman's heeled ankle boot. This right here is all sorts of win. So, you can thank this well-trimmed bear for making me update my blog. Why he's doing a high-kick, I don't know. Presumably he's very proud of his accoutrements. I mean, look at that belligerently smug expression. All I can say is that this bear is committed. He obviously "Kelly Clarkson!!!!"'-ed his way through a full-body wax since that little patch is all that's left of his glorious bear fur. Maybe I'm reading too much into this.


Moving on. Incredibly, I've been here for almost a year now and I can say that I've successfully compiled a short but very potent list of things that I would rather not see anymore while in Korea (or anywhere, for that matter). This is where I blatantly get all judgmental and opinionated about things out of my control...otherwise known as "Tuesday." I will call this list, simply: KOREA, JUST STOP IT!!


1.) Wearing acid-washed everything

As you've seen from a previous post, technology-wise Korea is ahead of us. They have so many things that make life more convenient that it has made me think to myself, more than a few times, that we have a lot of catching up to do. But, in the fashion arena, for some reason they still haven't gotten the memo about acid-washed jean textiles. So not only do some wear acid-washed jeans, but they wear acid-washed jackets with said acid-washed jeans.This is not to be mistaken for some ill-attempt at retro-ironic-chic. This is just "Hey, acid-washed is cool and I'm gonna be stylin'!!!" I have seen acid-washed jeans, jackets, tees, and tanks and sometimes they are worn in combination. This is OKAY, I suppose, if you have a specific purpose for this style. A magazine shoot, perhaps, detailing a retrospective on fashion trends. But not okay if you're buying your Sunday groceries with your 4 kids in tow, thinking you're the greatest gift to hipness.

2.) Wearing skinny jeans, GUYS!

You've seen my post about how skinny the girls are here and how their legs are rail thin; like twigs I can snap by sneezing. Well, unbelievably, most of the guys here have even skinnier legs than the girls. Hard to imagine but it's sadly true. I've only seen a few boys/men with muscle-y legs. I don't even need to see legs akin to those of tennis pro Michael Chang. I would just like them to have SOME meat on their bones. On top of this travesty, these same guys like to slap skinny jeans on top of their sad appendages. Here's a news break: That makes it worse!  You know what's even better? When they pour themselves into acid-washed skinny jeans. Double threat.

3.) Perming your young son's hair


Moms here are somehow stuck in the 70's/80's and believe that men with wavy hair are swoon-worthy. I wouldn't mind so much if they kept that to themselves but they play this out vicariously through their 4 to11 year old sons whom they force to get perms. One 10 year old student of mine came to class with his hoodie well over his face. When I asked him to pull it down, he shook his head in vehement refusal. I knew something was wrong because he was always a well-behaved and obedient child up until that moment. I took him out of class to ask him if something had happened at school or if something else was the matter. That was when he pulled his hoodie down enough to show me his dreaded secret: A perm. Moms...why take your child's beautifully thick straight hair and do this business...?

This might be okay if you're a KPop star or, I don't know, a friggin' ANIME CHARACTER, but this barely looks passable on a grown man so why do this to your young child just because you're stuck in a time warp?

I don't mean to offend any guys out there with naturally curly/wavy hair. It's just the notion of imposing it on kids who don't want it but have no choice that I take umbrage. If you're a guy with wavy/curly hair, I have some middle-aged Korean women I'd like you to meet. 

4.) The sacrilege that is Darth Vader in your Olleh commercials

You guys know how much I love Star Wars so when I first saw this commercial on TV here, you can only imagine the thud with which my jaw hit the floor. I was so shocked that I swore that they couldn't have gotten Lucas' permission and just used Vader for their own devices. But upon second viewing, I saw it...that tell-tale logo on the bottom-right corner of the screen: TM and © Lucasfilm. George signed off on it. After I shook my fists in the general direction of Marin County, I proceeded to lament the use of Vader as a bungling, impatient citizen. Here we have one of the greatest villains ever created, who would force-choke a puppy if he could get the coordinates of the rebel base but now he's some dude standing in line to go to the bathroom behind a bunch of stormtroopers waiting their turn. If this wasn't bad enough, he "warps" himself into the women's bathroom by mistake! In other variations of this commercial, he is also seen saving a dog from being stuck in the middle of high-speed traffic and also trying to get a seat on the subway. See for yourself. You see what our people have done, Thomas?!?!

5.) The uber-feminization of men 

I have accepted the whole metrosexual thing. To some extent, it's great. I have no issues with men being clean-shaven, well-groomed, and caring about their attire. I kinda draw the line at MAN-icures but whatever, if you feel good afterwards, have at it. But they take it to another level here in Korea (Japan is guilty of this too). Men should NOT be prettier than women. Just, no. Unless you're a drag queen. That's a whole other thing. But if I'm looking at you and you're not trying to look like a woman but I CAN'T TELL, then there's a problem:

 
Most boy bands here are guilty of this, particularly the members of the group SHINee (three of which are pictured directly above). Okay, except Min-ho. I don't care what you say, he is cute! D'awwww!

As a side note, Kpop and Kdrama guys(?) were sporting the Justin Bieber 'do long before Justin Bieber. 

6.) Last But Not Least -- Popping your collar

Maybe another memo missed along with the acid-washed jeans note? I only just started noticing recently but I have been told that they've been doing this for a while. Or maybe they never stopped! I think we've come to realize that popping your collar these days just means your one big douchebag but it's all the rage here. I've even seen women do it with their polos. Babies aren't safe either. 

When I see this:
 

I actually see this:

 

Now I'm just waiting for this to happen -- the layered popped collars:

After all that, I feel I should include some things they're doing right (aside from the technology) that we should learn to emulate:
 
1.) Cheap, delicious food delivered for free

Most places that deliver are open to midnight or 2am and will deliver everything on their menu for NO TIP AND NO DELIVERY CHARGE. If you try to tip here, they look at you funny. Now, I understand that our service system relies heavily on tip-giving so I'm not trying to abolish that at all. I'm just saying, it's nice that when your food costs $6, the actual amount leaving your wallet is $6.  What kind of food do they deliver? It's not just fast food such as burgers, pizza, and fried chicken (they have McDonald's deliver 24 hours a day, which is highly dangerous). They deliver items such as soups, noodle dishes, bbq chicken or pork, and even just raw slabs of marinated or non-marinated meat that you can cook at home. It's awesome. I will miss this when I come home.


2.) Respect for the elderly, relation or no relation

Asians treat their elderly with, generally, more respect and reverence than some other nationalities. I was at the station the other day and a group of middle-schoolers were playing around and sliding down the metal stairway railing. An elderly man saw this, approached them, and chastised them saying it was dangerous and they could hurt themselves. Now, being an elderly person here in Korea affords you a lot of perks. Since they are respected, they tend to have an attitude and throw their age around. If you're walking and they need to get somewhere, they'll push you aside because, well, they're old and they can. They've earned it. So this man didn't say "You kids be careful now, you might get hurt playing on the railing like that." No, he went up to them and pretty much said, "Get offa there, you brats! You're gonna break your necks doing that sort of thing. Go find somewhere else to play!" Did these kids flip him off? Tell him to go eff himself and mind his own business? No. They bowed, apologized and went on their merry way.  I am not saying this happens across the board. I am sure there are exceptions to this rule as I have seen plenty of rude kids here also. But generally speaking, they are respectful to their elders.

3.) More school or after-school programs

I feel sorry for my students. They are in school almost all day. Once they are done with their regular public school, they come to ours (ours is a private academy) where they proceed to take two or three more classes. The older they are, the longer they are in school. The high school students who attend our academy are there until 9pm. This is a little much, in my opinion. They barely have time to eat or sleep after they get home and finish their assignments. Some even go to academies on Saturdays. When do they get to hang out with their friends? In school. When do they eat? Between classes.They don't have time to do much else except study. This system would never fly with the kids or maybe even some parents back in the States. When I tell my kids that American kids get to go home around 3 or 4 and they're done, I am met with groans of misery and envy. I would never want to foist this same system onto ours but I can tell you these kids are doing work at a higher level than their counterparts back home and they don't get into nearly as much trouble. They don't have the time or luxury to. 


List over.

Now that I've cracked the dry spell, I think I will be better inclined to update this blog more frequently. I have met so many great people here and I know that I'll call them friends long after I've moved back home. Just this past weekend, I went up to Seoul to meet a few of them for dinner and drinks and some chill out time. Here we are having a beer and some garlic chicken...

Now THAT'S a pitcher:

The heads of these drumsticks were bigger than my fist. It was super garlic-y and delicious. I was sweating garlic the rest of the night.

After dinner, we went to a pretty cool bar/lounge that had an outdoor deck. It was a lovely night in Seoul. This particular evening, the bar was having a "couples" event, kinda like speed-dating but not so systematic. We went anyway even though all of us already have significant others. $18 for all-you-can-drink beer/mixed drinks and food all night. Good deal. I think we ate and drank well over the cost.

There have been many other activities I've done and good food I've eaten with great folks but I think this installment has gone on long enough so I'll save that for the next one. I hope to write another one before August rolls around. Maybe even next week, GASP!!

Until then, I leave you with this little cutie....

Chilling Dreams and Grinning Like A Fool

Before I get into my mom's dream that I had posted about on Facebook last week, let me provide a little background info.

But before THAT, let me start off with, not our usual sponsor of "This Is Why I'm Here" but a new, additional sponsor called "WTF?!"

The first installment was found up the street from my school. It is purported to be a sign for a gym that may or may not still be there. Yes, that's who you think it is.

This is part of signage for a different English school. Not sure what they're teaching but here's the zoom of the text that is pictured in the poster... 

"In the course of an orgy..."

Most of you may not know this but I sold my house in Fullerton last month. I thought I'd keep it while I was here  but I realized I am just not cut out to be a homeowner....not just yet. I felt tied down the minute I bought that house. So, once my mom told me that she got into a senior residential community where some of her friends were also living, we discussed selling the house. My mom, ever practical, suggested that I keep it so that I will have a home to come back to and because becoming a homeowner again may be difficult. I understood where she was coming from but, personally, it was a burden in every way. The only reason to keep would have been so that my mom would feel more secure or always have a place to move back to if she didn't wind up liking her new apartment. My mom, ever supportive, told me to do whatever made me feel less burdened.

My mom LOVED her trees and vegetable garden at the house and it was more like her home than mine because she took care of it and felt comfortable in it. So it was with a good amount of trepidation that I pulled the trigger and sold the house. Why would anyone want to move from a spacious, three bedroom house, with a nice yard, into a single-bedroom apartment? There was that niggling in the back of my mind even though my mom insisted that her new apartment was quite spacious with a living room larger than the one my Fullerton house had. She even noted that it was a relief that she didn't have to spend the better part of her day tending to the trees and the garden. The lady doth protest too much, I thought. In a way, I felt like I was evicting my own mother just so I didn't have to deal with the responsibility of being a homeowner. I tried to compartmentalize these thoughts so I wouldn't pull my hair out.

Then, last week, my mom called to tell me that dad visited her in two dreams within one week. She likes to update me anytime dad comes to "visit" but whenever she says that, it always creeps me out. I tend to be a skeptic when it comes to paranormal events or unexplained phenomenon, even though I've had my fair share of personal experiences with it. But, to my mom, having my dad "visit" her in her dreams is so commonplace that her tone tends to be sort of nonchalant when she tells me about it; like she's recounting what she had for lunch that day. Some of you know of my mom's experiences leading up to my father's last days as well as those she had after he left. That is why I put stock in this.

So the first dream consisted of my mom being at her new apartment when a mutual friend of hers and dad's came to knock on the door. Their friend beckoned her to follow because dad was wanted her to meet him at a local restaurant/bar around the corner (dad liked a good brewskie). My mom noted it was strange that he didn't come to get her himself or just walk in as he usually did at the Fullerton house. When she arrived, my dad was sitting alone at a table. She sat across from him and asked what he was doing there. He then referred to two bundles next to him: one was a dress for my mom and another was a dress for me. He told her to SEND this dress to me. My mom described it as multi-colored, shimmery, beautiful, and in a traditional Korean style - not quite like a hanbok but still kinda old school-y. I wanted to ask her what she thought the significance of the dresses were but she continued talking. She told me she was so curious even in her dream that she asked dad why he hadn't just come to her apartment directly. He didn't answer her.

In the next dream that occurred a few nights later, she and dad went to the Fullerton house that I just sold. The new owners were there to welcome them in and set a table for them (the new owners are also Korean). My dad had no problem walking into that house and making himself at home but he still didn't say a word to my mom, even as they sat to nibble on the food that the new owners prepared for them. My mom was noting to him the new owners' furniture and what they had done with the our old  space but my dad remained silent and just ate the food set in the living room. My mom considered this very strange because he carried over the silence from the previous dream even though, typically, he would converse with her.

The first thing I thought was, "Dad doesn't like that my mom moved." From the other end of the phone came, "I don't think your dad really likes that I moved." My heart sank. Oh god, what's wrong with her place? Is it dangerous there? Why doesn't he like it?! Should she find another place? Did I screw over both my parents, one living, one deceased?

I know, guilty conscious much?

After I calmed down, my mom began to say that she thinks he just isn't used to the idea of the new place. I reminded her that when we first moved into the Fullerton house, he had no problem visiting her there from day one. From the dreams she had when we first moved into that house, he just came over, sat himself down, asked for food, watched TV, mowed the lawn, fixed anything broken, and pretty much did the things he would have done had he been alive. He never went back to the old, old house in Anaheim where we had lived for 25 years. She had no explanation after I made that point. She said she was sure he'd eventually come inside the apartment but I am sure she noticed the worry in my voice.

My dad doesn't visit me that often. When he does, we're just doing mundane things. But he frequents my mom's dreams and, when he does, is the focus of them while often telling her to convey messages, thoughts, or items to me, which she does (again, creeps me out). But he was eerily silent in his visitations with her since the move, aside from the gift of dresses. I don't know what to think nor do I want to give it any more credence than being mere manifestations of my mom's own doubts about moving and my high-anxiety about doing right by her. But, again, too many things have happened for me to think this is JUST a product of her imagination or random neurons firing. Am now waiting for my mom to call and tell me he finally stepped foot inside her apartment even if it's just to give her a hard time about it. Anything. As long as he goes inside. Am gonna be on edge about this one for a bit. Forgive the silly superstitious side of me.

On a lighter note (much lighter!), I was walking home alone from school recently and thinking about my friends back home. Joanna was heading to Cali for a visit and I knew they'd all be getting together for dinner. I then began to envision everyone's faces, individually, and imagined seeing them cracking up due to various reasons/jokes/circumstances. About halfway home, as I was going through the rolodex of laughing faces, I realized I was grinning like an idiot, for no reason than just thinking about my friends laughing. The sounds and expressions of those faces made me feel exponentially happier than any of the following things, in no particular order:

1. the first sip of vanilla mocha coffee of the day
2. puppies and corresponding puppy breath (i know, right?!)
3. rain
4. getting packages from home
5. sleeping-in (what? what? what?!)
6. finishing a good book
7. spicy bbq pork
8. getting hugs and cute notes from my students
9. reading about abused animals finding good homes
10. all the contents of cuteoverload.com, failblog.org, and highexpectationsasianfather.tumblr.com COMBINED
11. thinking about the 1997 wales choir tour (huge highlight of my life)
12. giving someone a much-deserved verbal/written beat-down
13. finishing another chapter of writing
14. brutus
15. hearing that "rurouni kenshin" was going to be made into a live-action movie
16. the legendary yaki ramen in morioka, japan
17. things that are super cute just because they are proportionally smaller than their normal-sized counterparts (glares at richard)
18. figuring things out on my own
19.  songs so good that i listen to it on repeat all day
20. cheese (usually in some burrito format)

I wore that silly, inspired grin all the way home. I wish I could be there to hear them laugh communally, in person. Better yet, to be the reason for some of that laughter in one way or another. But I hope they now know that just the memory of their faces all screwed-up in merriment makes me incredibly happy. So much so that, this past Friday night,  I took on the project of printing out some of my favorite photos and putting them up on my wall a la scrap-booking style. Here's the result. Some will recognize themselves in these:

Just keep laughing. It will only make me happy.

Falling in Love and Holy Crap, It's Cold!

Yeah, I know.

I've been totally and completely awful about updating this blog, not for lack of things to write about but for lack of time or, perhaps, utter laziness. I won't lie, I'd come home from work with a good chunk of the evening left without tests to correct or grades to input, but I'd consciously and blatantly choose mindless drivel on which to waste time because of, well, the aforementioned laziness. That AND Star Wars: The Old Republic was unleashed upon the waiting MMORPG world and I had to partake in it. This is considered cream of the crop mindless drivel. I'll have you know that I set aside World of Warcraft and the Diablo 3 beta for this. Anyway, on with the with blog...




BUT before we go on, this belated blog has once again been brought to you by our sponsor, "This Is Why I'm Here:"

(Photo credit to Ms. Rebecca Young)

Blunch?! Really?! I mean we make fun of them by turning "R" sounds into "L's" or vice-versa (i.e. the "So Ronery" song from Team America) but they do this to themselves! Feel free to move about the cabin and make fun of them all you like; they've given you license to do so without fear of being called a racist. I feel a lesson on bleakfast foods comin' on in the kids' near future.

Allrighty, let's hit it. 

So, before I left, my friend Nik did a tarot card reading for fun. Actually she did two and, strangely, they both resulted in indications that I'd find a strong love connection during my time in Korea. As fun as that idea sounds, I never had luck with Korean men in America so my chances with Korean-Korean men would be next to nil. I expected nothing. But then this Friday, I met him and fell in love immediately.

His name is Sam and he's quite boyish and charming. His mom owns the pork restaurant just around the corner from my apt. Almost every Friday, I go there for dinner with fellow teachers to support the local businesses. We have been there so often now that the owner, Gina, always gives us free items from the menu and often extra orders of meat. 

So, imagine my surprise, after having been seated for our usual dinner this past Friday and getting up to go ask for more dipping sauce, when I saw him sitting there, waiting for his mom to come back out from the kitchen. I was taken aback at first. Was I seeing what I was actually seeing? I think I must have stood there, dumbstruck and slackjawed, for at least 15 seconds before finally pitching toward him with great momentum.

He was very patient and charming with me even though I couldn't stop vying for his attention all-throughout our dinner. I couldn't even be the proper meat-cutter-turner-overer that I usually am because I was so distracted. When his mom came over to ask if we needed anything, I took that opportunity to grill her about him. She was very gracious and happy to promote his qualities. He's even into cosplay!! I promised I'd come back the next day because I learned he'd be there. I don't recall the last time I threw myself so wholeheartedly and unabashedly into such an endeavor. I had no shame. But maybe that's what love does to a person.


So, I went back to the restaurant the next afternoon, bearing small gifts for her son based on what I had learned of him the previous night. I hoped it wasn't too forward of me. Indeed he was there and my face lit up just by seeing him. His mom was nice enough to give me a picture of him. Are you guys ready to see this guy? Here's Sam:

Sam is a cute, chunky, puppy breath-having little two month old Pointer-mix. Do you like his cosplay bunny outfit? What did YOU think I was talking about? A dude? Psh.


Apparently Gina has a friend whose dog had puppies and she wanted to give one a home for fear it would be hard for him to find people who'd take them. Unfortunately, she has two other dogs at home, one of which is a Chihuahua, that won't stop harassing Sam by biting and scratching. So, Gina decided to keep and raise him at her restaurant. (Let the "They aren't going to eat him at this restaurant, are they?" jokes fly.) 

Done flying? You all know that if I did come across a restaurant that served dog, I'd go in there and turn tables over a la Wrestlemania VII, right? Okay, anyway, so she couldn't think of an immediate alternative so she opted to bring him to her work and keep him there since it was warm and he'd be around people. Thing is, some customers thought he was cute and some others didn't feel comfortable with a dog running around where there's food, puppy or no. The idea of a two month old puppy spending nights alone kinda made me feel sad as well. I mean, look at this face:

I wanted to have a dog to walk and just be in the presence of one even though I couldn't take him/her home with me when I moved back to America (Isa will be the only one accompanying me home). Gina needed someone to watch him while she worked so that he got attention and her customers didn't abandon her restaurant. So The Great Dog Deal of 2012 was struck. I would take him after school and drop him off before I went to school in the mornings. Once he gets old enough, I'll take him for walks/runs and so would Christy. In the span of one night, Sam became the adopted pup of three people instead of one. 


There's the matter of Isa, of course. Since I have Sam over the long holiday weekend, I introduced him to Isa slowly in the requisite crate-in-the-room-first style. She hissed and spat as cats would and bristled her tail to about twice its normal size. Sam didn't just take it; he growled at her, too! They calmed down after a while and I let him out. After a lot of circling about, more hissing and spitting (Sam didn't pay her any mind after he was let out), Isa got closer and closer. She'd be fine until he'd turn around and make eye-contact with her. Then she'd hiss and spit again.

Sam about to get swatted...

But, as time passed on, she showed genuine curiosity: 

Isa peeking into his make-shift house and waiting for him to wake up...

 

  These last two pictures were taken a few minutes ago as they played:

Nap buddies:

I think they'll end up friends. At the very least, Isa will be tolerant of him being around for half a day. The other half she can relax and not be so hyper-aware/sensitive of her surroundings.

In other news, it's freakin' cold here! 

I thought about ending the blog right there. Would have been funny...well, at least to me. It'll be -11°C on Tuesday night. I do have to qualify it by saying it's actually not too bad...until the wind kicks in. Then, even I, the one who happily wears a light sweater out when it's just above 0°C, will start whinging and doing the "It's COLD!" dance. Fyi, the "It's COLD!" dance highly resembles the "I gotta pee!" dance. It's so cold... (audience: how cold is it?)...that it takes several minutes for soap to start minimal lathering under running water. 

I didn't quite get around to posting pics of the first snow except for one on FB so I'll put a few here:

Ice formations on the sliding door of my patio:

View from the east side of my patio:

View from the east side of my patio during an acid-fueled stupor that has me literally missing Thomas:

(Photoshop credit to the brilliant Tony Hsu. Blow this picture up to see all the great details)

Snow started falling during one of my favorite afternoon classes so we stopped for a few minutes to revel in it so I could video it. I advise you to preemptively turn your volume way down due to the squealing children soon to appear... 

(Don't mind the bars on the windows, we are on the 5th floor)

Christy and Becca on our street. The three of us live within 200 feet of each other:

Snow message I managed to write that night:

It has snowed on and off since then but am still waiting for the big one (the big snowstorm, you pervs!)...you know, the kind that makes schools close down (that's a HUGE hint, God, *wink wink, nudge nudge). I am not even sure we get that kind of snow dumped on us but one can hope. Maybe, like Cali, I have to go to the mountains for that kind of snowage. A ski trip should be percolating in the plans pretty soon. 

There is something ethereal and magical about walking while it snows and being surrounded by the pure whiteness of it (I'm not talking about the community of Irvine) or just watching the fluff fall from the sky. When you catch one, it's soft, cold wonderment in the palm of your hand. The phenomenon is easily explained away by science but I don't want snow or rain to be explained away; I want to look up and believe it's something metaphysical and fantastical that happens to us. Then I'll blink away the precipitation from my eyes, step out of my reverie, and back into a world where "irregardless" is NOT A WORD, DAMMIT!  

Had to get that out somehow. 

Okay, next installment will actually have pics of my students and I'll talk about my school and what the feez I'm doing there. Long time coming, I think. Thanks for waiting, guys.

Parting shots... (and, no I did NOT buy the bunny suit -- you guys know how I feel about putting clothes on dogs...)

HAPPY LUNAR NEW YEAR, EVERYONE!!!

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*Anime I'm currently watching: "UN-GO" and "Another" 
*Manga I'm currently reading: "Ao No Exorcist" and  "Fullmetal Alchemist"
*Book I'm currently reading: "Lord of the Rings" (the annual read starts again!) 
*Song(s) on repeat: "Fantasy" by LAMA, "From Dusk 'Til Dawn" by Abingdon Boys' School and "Tsukiakari no Michishirube" by Stereopony