As we all know, I'm was not blessed with a hairy face. It's been about two weeks and my mustache is still not what I hoped it would be. Actually, it's just what I thought it would be... wimpy. I still have three weeks! I was happy to see that the stache is coming in black. Micah, my other hairless friend (besides Roger!!!), has a blonde stache, so I got that going for me.
I know, I know... I have a long way to go and did I have to have my shirt off? Well, yes!!! People with mustaches can do whatever they want to whoever they want. That is the beauty of the mustache. It's like being invisible or being able to walk through walls.
Just look at this guy. He's got a stache and look what he does.
Of course, the biggest problem is the envirnomental damage done by these things, but the thing that gets me going is how no one admits responsibily and when they do (after an investigation) and apology is rarely issued.
We are the problem. Remember, this is not ours. It belongs to them...
You know, if you look on Youtube for anti-war songs you can find thousands. And of those thousands, most of them are slideshows of war images set to different songs. They are moving. They are sad. They are gruesome. They are everything that is war. I know how Iraq is being depicted, but I wonder how Vietnam would have been depicted. That war was so destructive. Some people estimate that close to 5 million people died in that war (that inlcudes the French occupation to military advisors all the way Tet and the close of the war). Of course, that set Cambodia up for Khmer Rouge and Pol Pot to sweep in and kill over a million.
Back to the focus, Americans lost over 75,000 soldiers in that war. Even Winnie's brother was killed in Vietnam. It was all over the place. The question that I'm posing here is since we have media outlets like youtube, blogs, social networking sites and tons of other cyber applications, are we getting lazy? Do you think that the public forced Vietnam to come to a close by posting video slideshows?
I know this war will come to an end and hopefully it will be sooner than later, but what does it say about the power that the American publc has? Are we strong enough stand up or are we just going to change our facebook status to "liberal" and leave it at that. This worries me. Our generation is still motivated, but what about the next one and the next one?
Does this help?
No, and this is what most people leave it at. I can't say that I've done a lot more. I did go to many anti-war marches in college and even in Cincinnati, where we were spit on by people close to our age.
Do you think that would have happened here?
This seemed to work. It did because people of all ages got on board. They all bonded together. The were mad. They wanted it to end and they fought.
I know that my whole family and all of my friends are against this war and most of them have been since it started. However, who has done something about it? I barely did and that's it.
Is this what it takes? Do we have to see this again to get people moving? I hope not.
I understand that it was a different time for America. The idea of youthful dissent was rather new then and luckily it spilled into other generations, but it seems that we have so much more power to do that now and yet it is just not happening like it was then.
We are trying though...
So, maybe it takes time. Maybe we can do it, but we need to motivate the young and keep the master's of war out of power.
Musicians inspire all sorts of people to do all sorts of things. That's nothing new. However, some musicians go further than that. I'm not talking about Bono or Manson or any of those douches. They inspire, but what they sing about is not moving in my opinion.
I prefer people that paint a little picture of the world for us. They frame it and most of the time these songs are not their hits. That's why there good though. No thought of sales was put into the song, only emotion.
I'm not a huge Elvis fan, but this one got me and from now on I will post and write about a song that strikes me in that way.
"Do we simply turn our heads and look the other way?"
Every morning, 고 leaves for Chinese class very early. Sometimes I get up with her and sometimes I don't. We do live in one room, so I feel bad if she has to sneak around the apartment in the dark. She gets up and leaves before the sun sets and never makes it home before 8pm.
This limits our fun time, but I try to get as much of her as I can when I can. So, when she leaves I pop my head out the window and watch her walk up the street and fade into the dawn. Sometimes, she knows I'm watching and turns and mouths "I Love You". Othertimes, the tasks of the day are weighing in on her beautiful mind and she just walks.
I see so much grace in her when she walks. I love watching her move. I love knowing that she has so much going on and yet she still manages to turn and watch me watching her.
There's something mystical about 김고운 and have my whole life to figure out just what that might be.
The wonderful part of human emotions is that we all need to have blue days. It's these days that make us realize how great it is to have happy days. Sure, you feel bad and you really want the pain and sorrow to fade, but we need these days to check ourselves.
Sadness makes me feel human. Fear makes me feel human. And happiness makes me love being a human.
I was reading a Yahoo News article yesterday and it really bothered me. It was listing the "Corniest Songs" of all time and topping the list was a personal favorite, "Don't Stop Believing" by Journey. While I can admit that it's a "corny" song, I think this writer was trying to belittle not only the lyrics and vocals of Steve Perry, but Journey in general. I was upset and, like many people do when in this situation, wanted to read some more of this guy's stuff to further fuel my fire. Then I found it.
This low-class piece of trash was mocking dog movies. He mocked Old Yeller, Where the Red Fern Grows, My Dog Skip, Eight Below and he even mocked "Two Socks" from "Dances With Wolves". I was irate. Why not make fun of the scores of stupid dog movies like Air Bud, Lassie and Bengie? Dogs are so great and that relationship is one that humans can not have with each other and, if you don't have a dog, one that you will never understand.
In my mind this writer is a single douche-bag living in New York who loves KISS and has two cats that sleep with him every night.
고 has signed up for Chinese classes again and will start studying in the morning before work. I take Korean classes on Saturday. Funny, huh? She has no time and manages to take 5 classes a week and I have all the time and I take 1 class. Awesome!
She's getting geared up for our planned move to Singapore and really she wants to be super marketable when we move home to the US and she starts working. I figured a young, attractive, Asian woman with Chinese, Korean, English, French and a working knowledge of three others (Spanish, Russian and Japanese) on top of her experience in multiple international markets will look good.
She's working so hard and really wants to be the best around!!!
Korean music is interesting. I like it for the same reasons I like some 80's music. It's kind of catchy and some songs are great, but overall it's a bit silly. If you like love ballads (not monster ballads) and pop music then this is perfect for you. If you like band music (like me) then stick with your Ipod.
As you know from Colbert, Rain is a popular Korean pop star. However, he's not that big in Korea anymore. He appeals more to an international audience. The recent countdown that I saw featured 10 of the most popular songs on the charts. I remember number 2 and 3. A major difference here is that 8 year olds like the same thing the 28 year olds like. That generation gap makes no difference.
I liked this song the first time I heard it because it sounded like mediocre American 1990s pop (which is great). This song is by Big Bang and it's played all over the place. It's called 거짓말 or Lies.
And this next one is just horrible. I don't know the appeal, but people like it!!! It's the Wonder Girls singing Tell Me.
By the way, all these pop "stars" are under 21 and the youngest is 15.
The World Cup isn't until 2010, but the draw was held this week. Some teams have an easy group and some teams don't. England has to play Croatia who recently beat them and dashed their hopes in the 2008 Euro Cup. USA will be playing Cuban, who we just beat in the World Baseball Series for the first time in 23 years!!! We should win.
I'm not a huge soccer fan, but I did watch most of the 2006 World Cup with all my soccer playing friends at home before coming to Korea. While here, I have watched a lot of soccer and have a lot of British friends who love the game, so here I am.
South Korea drew North Korea in the first round. This is interesting to me. They have played 11 times and South Korea has won 8, lost 2 and tied 1 (I think). During the Olympics, both Korea's play as one team, but the World Cup is more prestigious.
North Korea has never had too much glory in the sport, but in 1966 they surprised the world by upsetting Italy.
It's in Chinese, but here's a clip. Some call it the biggest World Cup upset yet.
So, who will win the match? This is how they decide things in Korea...
(This is the DMZ -the most heavily fortified border in the world.)
고 and I went to a Food Exhibition at COEX (a huge mall, convention center, etc...) and while we were tasting food and drink from all around Korea and the world, we stumbled upon an arm-wrestling competition. I had to watch it, so I convinced her to stay and watch it with me.
There were six guys on stage wearing tight jackets that showed off their size. They guys were huge. Kind of like this...
So, 고 and I chose which guy we thought would win. My guy had huge arms, but came in last place. 고's guy got second. The guy who won looked like a normal guy just trying to make a living as a trucker...
I know many people love to take baths and I do too, but since I have not had a bathtub is over a year I've gotten over that. The weather is getting cold though and it would be nice to relax in the tub from time to time. I know 고 would too!
Our bathroom, however, is pretty much a shower/sink/toilet combo and when you bathe the whole bathroom gets soaked. It's not bad, except when you go to the bathroom after a shower and before the floor has dried.
I have yet to post pics of our new place. So, I'll do that tomorrow.
It is so cold and rainy today. There's really nothing worse! Of course, this morning it was not wet at all so I didn't leave with an umbrella and neither did 고. We have done this so many times that we have accumulated over seven umbrellas. Today, I'm going to pick her up with an umbrella.
It's Joel's brithday tonight and we're going for dinner. He's back from UMASS (where he is studying) to visit his fiance. He's thirty and soon I'll have to fight the cold rain and snow. Great!
Here's a classic one from my catalog:
It makes me feel so good to hear them. It's been awhile.
고 and I went to bed early last night. We were both sleeping by 9:45. It was great. She was tired from her late nights and I'm pretty sure I can fall asleep at any moment if I try.
When it gets cold we turn the heat on like anywhere else. However, the heat comes from water pipes in the floor. This is because it is very normal to sleep on the floor in Korea (even preferred). So, 고 and I slept on the floor last night. It was very comfortable and quiet warm. We have a nice Korean-style mattress and warm blankets, so it was just like a bed. Of course, heat rises and around six this morning we got a little cold, but nothing big.
We woke up at seven to another snow. This one was better than the one before because the ground was so cold. I'm hoping that it's a cold and snowy winter, but I doubt that.
So, in my dream I was teaching, but I was not teaching english. I was teaching that Gloria Estefan and Miami Sound Machine song, "Conga". I was teaching my 10 year old class that can speak very well. However, that did not matter really. It was so strange because I had to teach the dance moves and the lyrics. And if you recall, I can't sing and my dancing, while not horrible, is not geared towards this Cuban sound. It was amusing.
"It's never too early" is the reply that I've gotten for years when commenting on the seemingly early introduction of Christmas music to the family CD player. It would still be warm and we would be listening to Andy, Bing and Robert sing about Santa.
I STILL think that it's too early. However, since it is nearly Thanksgiving, I think that's it's about time. We're putting up our tree next week. We'll have friends over to help decorate while we drink and watch Christmas movies. I'm not sure what to watch, but we'll figure it out. Also, I think we're going to do stockings this year as well. Hmmm...
Here's one from an album that gets played all the time!!!
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