Last post for 2011!!

Yes, this blog is lack of updates but here I am making the last post for 2011 before it ends! Summing up the most significant events that took place in 2011:

1) Graduated with a (regular) Bachelor of Arts.

2) Starting and completed one semester of Honours in Korean.

3) Came to Korea twice, once at the end of 2010 that stretched over to 2011 and right now, at the end of 2011.

4) Met Bf’s family and friends while he met mine in SG (beginning of the year).

5) Embarked on a language course in Korea and leaving the life like a Korean!

There were lots of ups and downs during the past year but these events have made 2011 a memorable year to look back on. I am pretty sure 2012 will be quite a ride be it good or bad because it’s my graduation year. Who knows what lies ahead in 2012?

Oh and remember the movie ‘2012’ and all that prophecies about 2012? I don’t believe them but I can’t wait to laugh at the movie and prophecies… ;p

Have a happy new year and a great 2012 ahead, everyone!

Korean classes so far…

2 weeks have past since the start of my Korean classes in SNU’s KLEI (Korean Language Education Institute). I’m studying at level 4 at the moment, a level that starts to focus more on more difficult grammar that are usually used in news, reports, books, radios and dramas, i.e. not as conversational as the past 3 levels.

My textbook, practice book and notebooks.

Classes start from 9am to 1pm, a schedule that is totally different from my uni timetable in Aus for the past year. Usually 9am or later is my wake-up time in Aus since my earliest classes start only at 10am. However, in Korea, I made it a point to sleep early so that I can wake up early and not feel all sleepy and drowsy during class. I adjusted to the early timings easier than expected!

As mentioned before, we have three teachers teaching our class and I’m still not too fond of this idea. Each teacher has their own style of teaching, that is, while one teacher explains the new vocab words in great details, the other may not, and while one teacher may choose to finish teaching all the grammar points before moving onto the practice book, another may go through each point with the practice book. Of course it’s not that of a big deal, but as a student I prefer one or at most two teachers so that I don’t have to switch “learning modes” almost everyday.

In regards to how well the teachers teach, two out of three teachers can explain vocabs and grammar points pretty well while it takes a bit of an effort to understand what the third teacher is trying to explain. Overall, all the teachers are nice and approachable, one of them knows I’m a DBSK fan while the other likes to put on Korean music during our class breaks!

My class isn’t the most exciting bunch, I’d say it’s a very quiet class. My classmates don’t really mix around with each other A LOT. We do chat during short breaks, but during the longer break, most of them would look for their friends in the other classes or do their own things. I tend to chat with the classmates sitting beside me, go out and buy food together during breaks, but after class we just go our separate ways. And I’d go for lunch with MK, the only classmate who I’d hang out with after class. The other classmates are JUST classmates because they already have their own circle of friends from the previous levels.

However, I’m enjoying my classes and wish that they could be extended to more than 4 hours! Sometimes, we have interesting learning resources like Korean movies and advertisements shown during class. I heard that the popular sitcom, High Kick 2 will be shown later during the semester! ^^

Greetings from Seoul!

Here’s a brief outline of what I did during my first week in Seoul:

• Spent most of the time with my BF (more later).
• Packed and tidied (just a little since bf did some cleaning before) the studio unit (원룸/ one room) where I’ll be staying for the 2.5months here.
• Went to e-mart to get daily necessities, e.g detergent, toilet rolls, hangers, food, etc…
• Went to FT Island’s Encore Concert in Seoul!

• Met up with Gabby (friend from UQ).
• Find my way to Seoul National Uni (SNU) and the building where I’ll be attending my classes. I’m staying two subway stops away from SNU but there are buses that go to SNU from the area where I’m staying so it only takes me ~25mins in total to get to school, i.e. from my unit’s door step to classroom. ^^
• Did not do much tourist-y stuff, but explored certain areas like Shillim (신림) which is where I’m staying, and around Ehwa Women’s Uni (이대).
• Took my Korean placement test that determined which level I should attend. The test consisted both writing and speaking segments. I was placed in level 4 (6 levels altogether), where I will learn more advanced Korean mostly found in news, radio, novels, etc. I actually predicted that I’ll get into level 4 because I’ve seen SNU’s older version of level 3 textbook and I’ve learnt most of the contents before.
• Went for Korean Wave Concert in Yong Pyong Resort with Gabby!

남친과의 만남~

The first 8 days were well-spent with bf who I haven’t seen for 9 months. So the list above was all done with him. When I first saw him in Incheon airport, I was very happy but at the same time, I felt SOOO awkward. I felt both familiar and foreign at that time… We saw each other quite often through the webcam but it’s still very different when you see each other in person. The awkwardness just engulfed me at that moment! >< But he who is always so easy-going helped me overcome the awkwardness quickly. ^^ Although we haven’t meet for 9 months, I felt that we have definitely become closer. Constant communication throughout the separation period is very important!

His uni term hasn’t ended so he travelled back and fro from Cheon-an to Seoul a couple of days last week. We spent time together doing the usual couple stuff that we couldn’t do when we were separated, like watching movies, going to cafes and going to 노래방(noraebang/ karaoke). To us, these were such valuable moments together… From this week until the next, he will spend most of the time in his Uni due to the exams period, so I will be alone!! 

한국어 수업이 시작했다.

However, Korean classes have started this week, so I don’t feel that lonely! So far, I’m loving my classes because I’m learning more difficult grammar, vocab, and the teachers are nice! I’m not sure how the other Language institutes work, but I find it weird that our teachers change on certain days, so we have 3 teachers teaching our class. Mon/Fri= one teacher, Tues= one teacher, Wed/Thurs= one teacher. That means we have to sort of switch modes to accommodate to each teacher since they have different styles of teaching.

Classmates were distant at first because most of them knew each other before since they advanced from the previous level while I was new in SNU. But I’ve made friends with an American born Korean (named MK) who is attending SNU for the first time as well, and right now gradually with the rest of my classmates. ^^

I’ll blog more about my class next time! Here are some photos to make you salivate!! LOL.

Forgot the name of this dish.

 
쪽발~ ♥ Pig’s leg

닭발~!! Finally I got to eat chicken leg, cooked the Korean way! This was actually delivered to our unit. You can’t imagine the types of food available for delivery! Korean delivery services are 짱~!!

Closer look. It’s veryyyyyyyy spicy! For Korean style chicken leg, you don’t have to eat and spit out the bones. Most of the inedible bones have been removed, so you can eat comfortably without having to spit out the small tiny bones like we have to when we eat chicken legs in Sg.

Transit in SG, off to Korea!

My tolerance for the humid tropical weather in Sg has lowered drastically after experiencing almost perfect weather in Aus.

Korea. Tomorrow. Nervous and excited to see him. Scared to go to school. Looking forward to meeting my friends in Korea. Can’t wait!!

I ought to spend more time in Sg… Feeling sad that I can’t spend CNY at home but I’m going to Korea with the aim to improve my Korean by heaps to aid me in my translation thesis!! I need some motivation though… ><; 

The scarf might not work out…

So I sort of wrapped the 3/4 completed scarf around my neck to see how it looks. Unfortunately, it doesn’t look very nice because of the colour pattern!! Omg, I don’t even know if it should be worn out… I am distraught and considering not to give him this as an xmas present!

No difference

Yesterday I sat for my one and only exam for this semester and returned all my library books, marking the end of the academic year! Even so, I don’t really feel much of a difference with before and after the end of semester, besides no deadlines to pursue and exams to think about. I still have to continue studying for Korean though, a process that can never be paused (at least for a long period of time) when it comes to acquiring a second language with the intentions of becoming fluent in that language. Adding on the fact that I’m going to Korea for 3 months of “language training” 2 weeks later, that only puts me in a semi-holiday mood.

The revision period for my exam has been a total slack as well, I watched one movie a day one week before the exam while allocating few hours for revision. So I was already in a semi-holiday mood at that time! I also completed 여인의 향기/Scent of a Woman, watched the Big Bang Theory and continued knitting the scarf for bf during revision period. ;p

I’ve already gone pass the light brown colour section as seen in the photo right now. I do hope it’ll pass off as a good looking scarf… so far I’ve never seen such a colour pattern before as usually scarves have either striped or solid colours. But I didn’t have enough yarns due to the yarn sale, so I settled for this colour pattern, i.e. large sections made of different colours.

Anyway, I’ll be going back to SG next Monday! I don’t feel that excited yet… actually I’m just neutral right now. Maybe because there is still a week left or maybe I’ve gotten used to it… 

해피 빼빼로 데이~! Happy Pepero Day!

As you should know, today’s date 11/11/11 is special because of the same number for day, month and year which will happen on one day every 100 years. Some people are even claiming that if you make a wish on 11/11/11 at 11:11pm, it will definitely come true.

For the youths in Korea, 11/11 has always been 빼빼로 데이, Pepero Day for them and this year it seems, the digit for the year has made it even more special. Here is a brief explanation from Wikipedia:

Pepero Day is an observance in South Korea similar to Valentine's Day. It is named after the Korean snack Pepero and held on November 11, since the date "11/11" resembles four sticks of Pepero. The holiday is observed mostly by young people and couples, who exchange Pepero sticks, other candies, and romantic gifts. Lotte denies starting the holiday and instead states that they noticed a bump in Pepero sales around November 11th and after continued popularity they decided to then encourage the holiday with special gift boxes and other promotions. Some consider it to be a contrived holiday and some teachers have encouraged children to exchange healthy snacks to help combat obesity. An alternative "Garaetteok Day" (sticks of white tteok) has been proposed.

According to one story, Pepero Day was started in 1996 by students at a girls' middle school in Busan, where they exchanged Pepero sticks as gifts to wish one another to grow "as tall and slender as a Pepero".

In Japan, a similar Pocky Day was started; however, it has failed to gain traction.

Isn’t it sweet? As some may call Seoul the underdog city of love, I do agree with that in most aspects seeing that they have Pepero Day besides White Day (Valentine’s Day) and a lot of couple matching things, even couple handphones, same brand and ringtone! To the Koreans, Christmas is another special celebratory day with their other half, not with their family as most Westerners do.

On this special day, all the more do I wish to spend it with him, my love. Alas! Our greatest challenge in this relationship has never failed to put me in more agony. But, on a positive note, I am absolutely sure that we will be able to get this through together as I eagerly wait to seeing him again (after 9 monthsㅠ) in two weeks’ time!

To all my lovely family, friends and readers, have a wonderful 11/11/11, Pepero Day~!

Korean drama, European vibe

“If today is the last day of my life…”

I have to say, the background music used in 여인의 향기 (Scent of a Woman) makes the entire drama feels like a movie from Europe. Imagine a woman with nothing to her name in Paris, the city of love, caught in a whirlwind romance with a very handsome man. You know, she gets sweeps off her feet by him and enjoys this kind of romance she’s experiencing for the first time, savoring every bit of it. The storyline of this drama isn’t like that, but it is the kind of feeling I get from it. In this drama, perhaps it is the appreciation of life and enjoying every bit before it ends when the female protagonist founds out her that she has only 6 months to live.

There are a lot of tango, bossa nova, jazz and RnB background music used in this drama, which somehow accentuate the romantic and bittersweet atmosphere surrounding the characters. One of the dying wishes of the protagonist is to learn tango which is probably the reason for the tango vibe in the drama. However I’m guessing a large part of the tango “concept” was adapted from the old movie also titled, “Scent of a Woman”. I’ve never watched this movie before but I found that it has a tango scene with music that was also used in this drama.

The music is called "Por una cabeza" by Carlos Gardel

“Por una cabeza” is also part of 여인의 향기 OST along with several other tango music. I think it’s been long since I’ve watched a rather “mature” drama, with no quirky lead characters like Dok Go Jin (in The Greatest Love) or Cha Ji Heon (in Protect the Boss) or characters from High Kick. You know how these characters make the drama more “eccentric” while Scent of a Woman is more toned down, focusing on the bittersweet realities of life. It’s refreshing and the accompaniment of background music makes it more of an enjoyment to watch. I’m currently halfway through the series and liking every bit of it.

Last but not least, the following is one of the beautiful OSTs sang by Junsu, who made a cameo appearance in this drama!

공주의 남자 The Princess’s Man

This is one of the very few dramas that I follow so closely with the Korean broadcasting period. Usually I tend to wait until the entire drama has finish broadcasting and uploaded online, or start watching only when a few episodes have been broadcasted in Korea. Because I hate waiting, I hate how the drama will leave you hanging in suspension each week. But ‘The Princess’s Man’ was so good that I was willing to bear the torment each week as I fervently follow the Korean broadcast of two episodes each week.

The drama has managed to reel in a lot of love from its local audiences, depicting a tragic love story that parallels the widely known story of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. Much more appealing is the fact that this Romeo and Juliet story is set in Korea’s Joseon Dynasty, an entirely new adaptation apart from the usual Western/European film adaptations of the star-crossed lovers.

Briefly, the story revolves around the two main characters, Lee Se Ryung and Kim Seung Yoo, who did not know that their fathers were arch enemies when they first met and gradually feel in love with each other. Following on was a series of tragedies that threatened the love between both parties. What kept me watching each week (besides Park Si Hoo dressed in hanbok) was the way they fought and persevered through those ordeals, even as tragedies of tragedies occurred such as lives of their loved ones lost and family ties severed.

Also, I personally found the male actors in this drama outstanding and no I’m not being bias here. Park Si Hoo and Song Jong Ho did their parts convincingly well. Song Jong Ho managed to make me hate yet pity his character at different points of the drama, sometimes both at the same time, which I guess was what his character set out to achieve. Moon Chae Won wasn’t bad, but I can’t particularly say she was very good as I find myself looking a lot at blank expressions and wondering what she’s thinking several times throughout the series. However, both Park Si Hoo and Moon Chae Won together made themselves a seemingly genuine couple.

Good news for haters of lengthy drama, this drama is only 24 episodes long, which is short for a 사극! The casts, beautiful music and not to mention, the beautiful hanboks, make this a must-watch drama!

Excitement rolling in

Here comes November! The month when I’ll take on the last assessment of the semester, the month when I’ll head back to Singapore and the month when I’ll go to Korea! Specifically, my Korean translation exam will take place in two weeks’ time, a week later back to sg and 5 days later off to Korea. Exciting times.

I have plenty of time to study for my Korean exam, which is the reason why you see me blogging more often, watching dramas and movies more often and just taking my time with the studying process. You could say I’ve started my holiday in advance! :p This isn’t really procrastinating since I’m studying bit by bit everyday right? I just spend more of the day relaxing than studying… I know. I should change that the other way round.

This week is SWOTVAC week. I went to school today to meet professor Jung (my Korean prof  and supervisor for my honours thesis), submitted my translations to him and borrowed his Korean-English paper dictionary for my Korean translation exam. He’s so nice. When he heard that I would be going to Korea this coming vacation, he said that I could contact him and perhaps meet up in Seoul in January since he’ll be there at that period. He said that he could bring me around Seoul! It would be cool to meet him in Korea, maybe I could then introduce my bf to him, but I think the whole situation would be kind of awkward… I’d think about this.

Anyway, as I expected, there was a huge turn out of hardworking students cramming in the library. I felt a little guilty that I was kind of enjoying swotvac week (more like “holidays” to me), not feeling any stress and definitely not cramming. But I resolved that I would study harder when I get back home, spend more time studying in a day than watching The Big Bang Theory. Oh, that comedy sitcom is hilarious, which I supposed many of you should know since it has been very popular since 4 years ago (I am slow when it comes to American sitcoms)! I spent about 4 days finishing the first season which is pretty short and now I’m starting on the second season. But I found that you’ve got to have a certain level of knowledge in science, sci-fi stuff (e.g. movies, comics, etc) to understand some of their jokes. Nevertheless, it’s a comical sitcom that keeps my mood up when I’m feeling down.

About blogging, as you can see, I am now quite the active blogger as compared to the past year. Besides the extra time I have now, after reading a lot of blogs recently, I’ve suddenly found the motivation to blog more. I’ve also changed my blog layout to a much simpler one and have added labels to my recent posts. Comments are welcome in the comments section after each individual posts. I’d be adding a profile page soon… hopefully.

동이 Dong-yi

I’ve finally finish watching 동이 (Dong-yi), a 60-episode Korean historical drama about the life of a King’s mother. The drama depicted how Dong-yi, with her kindness and intelligence, raised from being a lowly water maid in the palace to being King Sukjong’s concubine. In the drama, Dong-yi faced numerous adversities as she gradually gained power in the palace, yet all along she stayed true to herself. Her selfless-ness portrayed in the drama (as with so many others) could sometimes seem unrealistic to me because she appeared too kind and selfless, leading me to think if such a selfless person like her really exists in the world today. Probably a thought that stemmed from the absence of such value in myself but then again, it’s a drama which meant a lot of things are dramatized.

Fan-made mv depicting the love between King Sukjong and Dong-yi.

I’m a fool for love stories especially the ones between unlikely couples which in this case, a 천민 (cheonmin, lowest class of people) and a King. Despite the struggles faced by Dong-yi as part of the main storyline, the drama still managed to stay focused on the emotional bonds between the characters, especially between Dong-yi and the King, and the brotherly love between the Crown prince and Prince Yeoning.

For a lengthy 사극, the story can be quite draggy and unfortunately, Dong-yi has also fallen victim to draggy storylines. From the few 사극 I have watched, there is always the typical storyline and I like to label them as “battle no. 1”, “battle no. 2” and so on, depending on how lengthy the drama can get. These fights are between the group of protagonists and antagonists, with several rounds throughout the drama. The protagonists might win the first round, but the antagonists would take the lead in the second, but ultimately it usually ends with the protagonists winning, unless they have a tragic ending in real historical records. In Dong-yi, I felt there is quite a never-ending of “battles” for Dong-yi until the very 2nd or last episode. Although these battles might be gripping, it’s personally quite tiresome to have to keep following them. Overall the storyline was good and it is definitely worth watching (almost) all 60 episodes!

Knitting for beginners

Before I start on the topic of knitting, I just wanted to announce that all my classes for this semester have officially ended!! I had my last class today and I felt a load of weight lifted off my back! It felt soooo good! But the last class had me a little worried about my next semester, about what I’m going to face. A little scared. Of course, I don’t really have to think about that for now… So I’m just gonna shove that to the back of my head for the time being! :)

So, knitting! That’s what I have been up to ever since I finished my last assignment. I am actually working on a project (that’s how knitters call their knit work in-progress) right now, a secret one, not from my blog readers but my bf! Sadly, (or fortunately?) he does not read my blog. Actually in most ways, it’s good because then I can blog about more things, like this post, and rave about my idols as much as I want! He can get a little jealous when it comes to idols. :P Anyway, as I mentioned, I’m knitting something for him right now as a Christmas gift!

Take a look at my stash and how my current project looks like:
 

Can you guess what I’m making? I can’t remember if I ever mentioned before in my previous posts about this… but in any case, it’s quite obvious what I’m making from the way my work is turning out. I’m making him a scarf! I know it’s an easy project but I just learnt knitting in July and I didn’t have the time to further my skills during the semester, so I’m starting easy!

For me, learning how to knit has been a fun and easy process, no thanks to Youtube! There are a gazillion of videos on knitting, from the most basics to advance levels! It’s outrageously easy for anyone to pick up knitting! As long as you have the right “tools” and materials, you can learn all the basics in a day. Before I really got down to starting the knitting process for the very first time, I searched and read about it on the internet. The “getting started” is probably the most important part that every beginner has to know about before going out there to buy your needles and yarn. Personally, I find Knitting Tips by Judy a very helpful guide on the starting process as she explains about the types of needles and yarns out there, as well as the best needles to start with for beginners. In addition, the website has an accompanying youtube account which was like a bible to me throughout my learning process. Judy’s youtube account is fantastic for first-timers as her demonstrations are clear and easy to follow, as compared to other youtubers. Also, her account covers a whole range of stitch patterns, tips and advise for the type of project to embark on.

Before I started on my project, I practiced a lot like what Judy has advised in her videos. I spent a lot of my July semester break on practicing- learn a new stitch, practice…, learn another new stitch and practice again. Because knitting is all about repeating the process, but if you don’t practice you’ll make mistakes often while working on a project and you wouldn’t want to re-do something after working on it for so long.

Right now, I’m still quite the beginner and I have ran into several mistakes when I embarked on this project which is my first one ever. When I first started and successfully decided on the type of yarn I was going to use, I thought that just using the needle size as suggested on the yarn label is right.

As seen here, the needle size suggested is 4.00mm/8UK/6US (all the same, they use different measuring systems). When I bought that needle size and started knitting, I found that the stitches were small and tension was really tight for a scarf. I think I’d probably take several months to finish this but I need to finish it by Christmas! So I went back to the store, hoping to find a large type of yarn but sadly, Lindcraft was having a clearance sale of yarns, which was good and bad. I could get the yarns at half the price but a lot of the thicker and better yarns were gone. However, as I was browsing through the shelves, I chanced upon a knit magazine specially for the brand of yarn I bought. There were different types of projects in there and of course, scarves for men too! I read through them and realised that I didn’t have to use 4.00mm needles and that a scarf for my yarn needs a 4.50mm needle size for the right tension- not too tight or loose! And yes, the needle size was way easier to knit as it wasn’t as tight as before.

As for the colour of the scarf, I wanted to knit everything in the navy blue but I only managed to buy 4 yarn balls before all of the same colour sold out! So I had no choice but to mix colours so that the scarf will come out long enough. It’s just a pity Lindcraft does not have a great variety of THICK yarns although their range of thin yarns is rather impressive. Winter in Korea requires THICK yarns which understandably something which Brissy doesn’t really need. So I have to settle with something thinner.

Right now, I’m enjoying the knitting process. It gets very addictive and you don’t really feel like stopping once you knit a large part of it (like where I’ve stopped in the photo above). The best thing is, I save time but knitting while I watch my Korean dramas. Ain’t that just perfect? :) I think I’ve found myself a new hobby!

FT Island, once again!

Guess who’s going to see them for the 4th time?! That’s right, I’m going to FT Island’s concert next month on my 2nd night in Korea! I just bought the tickets off the ticket site: Interpark, which thankfully has English version for international fans! That means a Korean ID is not needed for buying tickets! :)

This time, I’m going to attend a concert in their home country! AND bf (I’ve decided not to address him as “A” here because it can be kind of confusing at times) will be coming along as well. Haha, I don’t know how crazy I will become when I see FTI with bf beside me. o.o;;; I tend to be FREAKING crazy and let my hair loose in concerts… Not sure if I want him to see that. X)

The last time I saw FTI was in Thailand during their Asia Tour Concert, Feb 2010! Can’t believe I’m going to see them again. This is too surreal.

 FT Island's song, "Like Birds" from their recent album, Memory in FT Island.

사극 (史劇)

사극 (sa-geuk) means historical drama. I realised my love for 사극 has almost completely replaced Korean dramas with modern settings. Whenever a new 사극 is released I find myself looking forward to watching it with more enthusiasm than other dramas on my must-watch list. To me, one of the most appealing aspects of 사극 is the protagonists’ abilities to solve different kinds of problems without the presence of modern technology, i.e. computers, mobile phones, cars, etc. I know that THAT IS what 사극 is about and THAT’S just the appealing point! In our age and time, the issues that people faced at that time could easily be solved with modern technology. But it amazes me how people of that era employ tactics and strategies to work their way around things, solving puzzles and mysteries without the use of modern technology.

Another appealing aspect of 사극 is the rich cultural content vividly displayed on-screen, the historical cultural roots that characterised today’s Korean society (or Chinese or Japanese, because this applies to their historical dramas as well). The historical and cultural roots flamboyantly displayed in these dramas are also the reasons why they are well received in the home country- the traditional clothes (hanbok), the houses, the lifestyle they led and so on.  Even as a foreigner, I find the hanbok so beautiful and appealing. In addition, it’s an entertaining way to learn Korean history! It’s through the drams did I learn a lot about the Shilla and Joseon dynasty.

One of my Korean friends admitted that Korea makes awesome 사극 and I agreed.

Although I’ve watched 대장금 (dae-jang-geum/da-chang-jin) on TV, I didn’t really follow the entire drama, just bits and pieces. If I remember correctly, 일지매 (il-ji-mae) was the first 사극 I completed. The reason was because Lee Junki starred in it so I watched it even though I wasn’t too attracted to the idea of watching a 사극 drama at first. But the storyline kept me hooked besides the fact that Lee Junki’s acting was top-notch.

After that, my second 사극 was probably 이산 (yi-san), the one with 77 episode starring Lee Seo Jin. The storyline was so good- a mix of treachery, betrayal, love and action! This is probably the drama that made me look at 사극 in a whole new way. That 사극 surpass modern Korean dramas in so many ways! Oh my god, one of the best dramas I’ve ever watched! Or so I thought before I watched 선덕여왕 (Queen Seon-deok). I did a drama review (more like a drama rave) post before so I will not go into much details but if anyone is looking for a 사극 to start on, watch Queen Seon-deok (62 episodes), one of the most epic drama ever. It’s amazing to watch a female ruler rise to power in the country that will later be gripped by Confucius values, pushing the status of women to the lowest ever during the Joseon dynasty.

If you’re looking to watch a shorter 사극, try 공주의 남자 (The Princess’s Man) that recently ended in Korea at 24 episodes, a Joseon Romeo and Juliet love story that will keep you captivated throughout!

선덕여왕 (Queen Seon-Deok)

공주의 남자 (The Princess’s Man)

It’s a pity 사극 aren’t receiving as much love as the other modern Korean dramas internationally. Well, sometimes the length may be quite a turn off (even to me!), but what makes the story is the development of storyline and characters that go with it.

I am currently watching 동이 (dong-yi), which I had stopped for awhile due to assignments, and starting on 뿌리 깊은 나무 (Tree with deep roots).

Does “weird” even exists in Star Wars?

So I’ve been watching the Star Wars saga recently, from episode 1 to episode 5 where I’m at now (there are six movies altogether if you didn’t know). Even after 5 movies, it still perturbed me whenever I see aliens and humans interacting and even living together in the movie.

I know it’s all fiction, but after watching episode II I thought about why the Queens of Naboo (name of planet in Star Wars) are required to paint their faces entirely white. It’s that some kind of make-up only for the Queens? I thought that was kind of weird. But then again, if that is weird, what about the other species (aliens) with three eyes, horns, and so on? Of course they are weird from our point of view (in reality) but what about the “world” in Star Wars? I just wondered how do they even define “weird” or “strange” if there are all sorts of creatures living together, even appearing to share similar cultures! Does the word, “weird”, even exists in their world? Maybe not.

Korean study vacation confirmed!

If you guys saw my recent facebook status, you would know that my coming “vacation” will be spent in Korea! Vacation with quotes because I’m going to study Korean for 2.5months, so I don’t really have a break… I’m not complaining since I wanted to go on my own accord. Of course, being in Korea with A, I’ll definitely play as well, that’s why I wrote Korean study vacation as my title! heee.

I’ve already booked my flight and paid for the course fees, so it’s a 100% confirm! I’m really excited because this time I have to be more independent in Korea which is GOOD so that I can know my way around Seoul, travelling on my own, buying my own stuff, and so on! Previously when I spent a month in Korea, I depended SOOOOO MUCH on A. Even when I was shopping for girly stuff, I had him to speak to the salesperson for me, everything was done by him! I want to learn how to live in Korea! I want to live in Korea like how I’m living in Aus right now! Of course, with the language barrier, everything will be so much more difficult but it will not only strengthen my independence, my Korean abilities will improve as well! Hopefully!

There’s just 1 thing which I feel regretful about, that is spending time with my family and friends in SG. Especially the special time of the year- CNY! It will be the first time I won’t be able to spend CNY with my family which sucks! My favourite time of the year has always been CNY, seriously. I won’t deny that dressing up in new clothes makes a big part of it, lol. But it’s the only time when I can see long-distance relatives… I’m just curious about how they’re doing, how much have they changed since a year ago, are they still the same… things like that. And it’s the good feeling of spending the start of the new year with the family that makes the occasion even more special. OH YES, the HONG BAOS as well!! As a jobless, young, unmarried person that’s my yearly income! :P

On the bright side, I’m probably going to spend CNY with A and his family! If you didn’t know, Koreans do have Lunar New Year as well and they also spend it together with their family. I’ll definitely be looking forward to that! :)

Potential Plan For Upcoming Semester Break

What a frustrating day I had yesterday!

Okay, firstly it has got something to do with my application for the Korean language program in Seoul National University. My passport, certificate and academic transcripts were needed as part of the application so I had to go to school to scan them since I don’t have a scanner. The scanner in school was the huge multi-purpose photocopying machine in which you can photocopy, scan and print. I had such a hard time scanning the documents because once I scan them, they will be saved into my usb but then I can’t see if they were scanned properly. The only way is to get a computer and check the images. After scanning all my documents the first time, I went to check them on the computer and realised only 3/4 of each document were scanned properly. So I had to go back…. This happened a few times, so I made many trips back and forth- scanning and then finding a computer…. It was so frustrating!

I knew it was the problem of aligning the documents properly so the machine could scan the entire doc. But the first time I did it, it was properly aligned and it turned out only 3/4 of the docs were scanned. After so many attempts, I finally got them properly scanned. Frustrating!

Anyway, I manage to apply for the program yesterday. It was quite a hustle because I had to sign in, register, etc… AND I had to upload a photo of myself onto my profile page which I presume an official resume kind of photo was needed, but damn I didn’t have such a photo. Thus, in my desperation I went to Facebook and find a photo of myself, download it and crop it. Haha… Well, I have no choice!

For the Korean language program, if I manage to get accepted, I will be there for at least ten weeks because that is how long the program will take. That means I will be there for most of my holidays…!! I cannot even celebrate Chinese New Year at home… It took me some time to think about applying because of these aspects and more, but I really hope to fast track my learning progress for my own abilities and for the translation thesis I’m doing right now. There is also the matter of my speaking ability which has not seen much progress… Even though I may have a Korean boyfriend, his English is better than my Korean, so I end up speaking English to him when I can’t express myself in Korean. That’s something which will NOT help in my speaking abilities because I have to push myself in speaking Korean if I want to get better. I’m sure my speaking abilities and confidence will improve heaps when I study in Korea.

Skip spring and move on to summer instead!

Typical weather of Brisbane… From winter, skip spring and bring in summer instead. The temperature heated up to 33dc yesterday, bringing in serious bushfires around Queensland causing the entire city to be engulfed in haze today. Well, I’m not sure about the city but suburban areas and UQ were definitely affected.

Surprisingly, I was not really use to wearing summer clothes again today. Especially exposing my legs without stockings and jeans… maybe after all the time my legs were hidden under the long pants and stockings, it was weird looking at them bare. haha. >.< But it felt good to be wearing summer clothes, lighter and less clothes, more comfy!

Although the sun can be blazingly hot, unlike the humidity in SG, Aus weather is much drier so I don’t feel as sticky. The good sides of Aussie weather~ minus the blazing hot sun. ;)

I just hope the weather won’t go overboard before I head back to SG. On that, the future is quite bleak….

Already half-way through the semester.

 

As the title says, September is here, I’m halfway through the first semester of honours. A very very overwhelming first half and I doubt that will change for the rest of the semester! Although overwhelming, I find myself absorbed into a quicker pace for learning Korean, because I have to do translations which are, sad to say, most of the time beyond my abilities. It is saddening and stressful at times, but I get to learn a lot of things along the way, practicing and hopefully, advancing my Korean abilities. I try not to let stress get in my way and positively take up the challenges as this is the only way to improve!

One of the greatest challenges I’m facing right now is having to translate a Korean novel for my translation thesis (for my honours, lazy to elaborate right now).  

Yes, I have this novel! It’s called <우리들의 행복한 시간> AKA “Our Happy Times".

A gave it to me last year when he was still in Brisbane! :D I tried to read it last year but it was soooo difficult that I gave up after a couple of pages. Haha. Now I have to face it because it’s going to be part of my translation thesis wherein I have to translate about 15,000words of it. I chose this on my own accord, of course. It has also been adapted into a movie, which some of you may be familiar with:

Kang Dong Won!! Hehehe.

I haven’t get down to watching it yet but I will do it very soon. A told me that the contents in the movie should be almost the same as the book’s.

The thing about translation is I have to be good in Korean and even better in English. I may be translating something but I am also writing it in English, and it has to be at a novelist level since it is going to be treated as an English novel. This is another aspect which I’m struggling with- WRITING IN ENGLISH! WRITING. WRITING A NOVEL. Sad to say, I’m not very good at writing and I think this is an area which I have to work on as well.

There are too many things to work on…… 

(MUST-READ) My translation of a news article in relations to A’s achievement!!!

KUT, two students awarded with the Director’s Award at the Campus Patent Strategy Universiade.
Ranked 6th among 89 Universities in the Pre-existing Techniques Investigation segment.
Students from the Korea University of Technology and Education (hereinafter referred to as KUT) were awarded with 2 Patent Director’s Award, 1 excellence award and 1 participation award in the Pre-existing Techniques Investigation segment at the 2011 Campus Patent Strategy Universiade Competition.
In this competition, KUT students Choi Sang-Jin (3^rd year in the school of Mechatronics Engineering) and Yoo Seung-Mok (4^th year in the school of Energy, Materials and Chemical Engineering) were awarded with the Patent Director’s Award, while Kim Dong-Ha (4^th year in the school of Mechanical Engineering) and Lee Byung-Cheol(3^rd year in the school of Mechatronics Engineering) were awarded with the excellence and participation award respectively.
The competition, divided into the segments of Pre-existing Techniques Investigation and Patent Strategy Groundwork, had large companies lay down questions in the areas of power/electronics, shipbuilding/mechanical/metal and chemistry/biotechnology. It comprised of patent strategies, in accordance to the questions set, proposed by undergraduates, post-graduates and their advisors.
In the Pre-existing Techniques Investigation segment, a total of 2393 students from 89 universities nationwide entered this year’s competition. They then submitted their answers to 29 questions, wherein 1153 students passed the writing evaluation. After which a total of 169 students passed the presentation round and advanced to the finals where students Choi Sang Jin, Yoo Seung Mok and Kim Dong Ha were awarded accordingly.
Although KUT, producing 4 winners in this competition, ranked 6^th place after Kyonggi University (12 winners), Chungnam National University(10 winners), Inha University(8 winners), Yonsei University(6 winners) and Kumoh National Institute of Technology(5 winners), the institute was praised for having 2 winners awarded with the Patent Director’s Award through the achievement of excellent results.
Park Keom Jin, the technology support team leader, said, “From last December, over a period of 10 weeks, there was progress for more than 40 student patent representatives that extended over patent concepts, law in relation to patents, methods of invention, ways of searching pre-existing patent information and lessons from visiting professionals. The students’ responses were extremely good.” (t/n: Not too sure about the translation for this paragraph. ^^’’ )
Yoo Seung Mok and Choi Sang Jin who received the Patent Director’s Awards revealed, “Since last summer vacation, we attended lectures about Patents during our spare time and familiarised ourselves with the basic concepts. Until the competition in May, we prepared for it diligently with the help of Patent lectures and visiting instructors.” They added, “In order to solve the problems, we always consider them through the stance of the companies, and that helped us a lot.”

Patent Director’s Award- Choi Sang Jin, Patent Director’s Award- Yoo Seung Mok, Excellence Award- Kim Dong Ha.
Original article from: 충청일보

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Bolded name, Yoo Seung Mok, is A's Korean name. ;)

OMG, it took me ages to translate this article. Actually I’ve been practising translation for the past few weeks on shorter articles and this was the longest I’ve ever did. Of course I HAD to translate this, it’s about A’s achievement in the recent Patent competition he participated in.

Last week I posted on my facebook status about his photo appearing on naver.com, it is because of this article! :) There were several other shorter news articles and I heard the article was published in the newspapers too! But since this was the first one listed on Naver with his photo included, I chose to translate this article! It’s just mediocre translation as there are certain parts which I’m not too sure of but I try to make the article sound coherent and logical.
Anyway, I am SO SO SO proud of him! ^^The award he won, the Patent Director’s Award, was the second prize after the Minister’s Award (1st prize). There was prize money and it is quite a lot! He said that his school even made some sort of a banner (with the photos above) that showed off their achievement.
This sure reflects how hardworking and diligent a student he is… ㅠ.ㅠ He’s my role model…

New semester, honours year… Tougher than I thought

It’s already the third week into the 1st semester of my honours year. There is definitely a level of intensity that is beyond the normal undergrad level. Because I’ve taken the challenge to do a translation thesis, it requires high proficiency of the Korean language. Right now, I’m trying to improve my proficiency level and at the same time practice doing translations which can be immensely challenging. But I welcome the challenge as it is always better than it not being a challenge. At least I will learn something out of it.

These days though, I feel a bit of a motivational-drain… I want to study, but I keep getting distracted by things and by the end of the day my to-do list will always be incomplete. That is very annoying and it kills my motivation even more. But oh well, I just have to keep fighting…!!

Sometimes I feel that I can be a little too ambitious too, wanting to be fluent in Korean in an instant and then getting frustrated when I realise my Korean isn’t as good as I want it to be. I want to really sit down and mug, just like a Korean high school student –studying 20 hours or so a day. LOL. Okay that’s too intense for me, I still need to cook, do laundry, clean, wash, drink bubble tea, etc… Hehe. But I’ve done quite a fair bit of studying when it’s only the third week. I just feel that I need to study even MORE. Yeap, I need to but knowing me, I get distracted so easily.

I realised that in the recent months, I’ve absolutely no inspiration or  (the word again) motivation to blog about anything…….. When I look at my blog, I’ll go “ok I’ll blog another time” and it’s the same all the time until now. One thing is I guess I can easily pour out my feelings through twitter, in an instant! Also, right now I feel that I need to put more effort into blogging well, language wise. Write well to improve my writing skills… that thought alone sort of kills my motivation by 80% already. LOL. And this blog post is like… almost close to effortless because I don’t want to care anymore…. I need to revive this blog!! ><;;

끝.

Winter Break is coming to an end

Winter break is coming to an end soon! I’m actually more happy than sad because it’s going to be a whole year of intensive Korean language!! I’ve been revising my Korean during the holidays, although not as much as I wanted due to the holiday mood I have. I still have so much to study but I’m only left with a weekend before the new semester starts! But I find myself actually quite disciplined in revising my Korean, it’s the passion I guess! hee~ ;p

Besides studying, I’ve been enriching myself with skills and knowledge! Utilizing the time I had, I started learning how to…

KNIT! :) The photo shows a practice patch I knitted out while learning how to knit two colours together. I haven’t knitted out anything useable so far as I’m still practicing. There are so many different kinds of pattern stitches to knit and each pattern requires a different method of knitting. But I’m taking it slow as I have a lot of time before December comes!

And today I FINALLY got down to making the Korean sushi, Kimbab! I’ve wanted to make kimbab for so long but was too lazy to find out which Korean mart has the ingredients I need as not all Korean marts have kimbab ingredients!

For a first attempt, it’s quite successful although I need more practice with rolling the kimbab! ;p

It’s been quite a purposeful holiday, travelling with sister and cousin, studying, reading, knitting, cooking, hanging out with friends and saying goodbye to some. Soon I’m going to embark on my honours year!! OMG excited.

Semester 1, 2011.

Results for sem 1, 2011 were released few days ago and as I expected, my results were not on par with the previous semesters’. Definitely no Dean’s list this semester!

Can’t say I’m not disappointed because I expected at least one 7 for either MSTU or POLS. But I also expected to see a 5 for COMU, good thing it’s not! My first grade 5 in my whole uni life received in the last semester (for my normal BA). What a pity I could not keep my results purely 6s and 7s. Argh, Buddhism. From the first moment I learn about this course, I knew I would not do so well if I were to take it. It’s religion, it’s philosophy. The stuff that makes my head go haywire. Alas! I proved myself right. I worked quite hard for Buddhism, did lots of reading which is required actually, if not you can’t write shit. But well, other courses were quite as time-consuming with looooots of readings to do. I guess for this semester, without a Korean course, I was kept busy on my toes just like a “more” normal uni student. Every week, tons of readings to do.

The thing is, although my grades are not as good as my previous semesters, I felt that I learnt the most for this semester. Perhaps it’s because of the readings, but I would also credit my Buddhism prof (oh the irony!). Throughout the semester, he stressed on the importance of reading and writing. Reading is essential for everyone because it is through reading that we gain knowledge (mostly), which of course is true. Besides learning from lecturers, profs in school, we gain most knowledge through reading (be it textbook or other academic books). Besides that, having taken the political science course has made me realised how little I know about Asia. I reckon that I should not only focus on Korea and expand my knowledge to other parts of Asia as well, especially SEA which shamefully I have the least interest in. >< Because of this course, I am cultivating the habit of updating myself with current affairs around the world (especially Asia, since I’m majoring in Asian Studies). There are actually so much more that I’ve learnt this semester but I’m just too lazy to type it all out… lol.

So, now I’m officially a Bachelor degree holder and moving on to another year of honours! I’m sooo excited for the new semester to start! Only two weeks of holidays left, I have to take this time to study and revise my Korean due to the lack of Korean practice last semester. ><

Short post on the Melbourne/Gold Coast trip!

I have been fighting the unmotivated will to blog all these while and finally I’m here still struggling to type what has been going on  in my life since my last blog post. I see blogging as a practice for sustaining my writing skills although it is not something I want to boast about and it may not be an effective practice (due to the lack of a 3rd party proof-reading) but it is still SOMETHING which is better than nothing! That’s why I don’t want to give up blogging.

June was a really really busy month which is kind of obvious considering my number of blog posts. I was busy with exams and assignments, after which I went on a vacation to Melbourne and Gold Coast with my sister and cousin. It all ended within the month of June! A month mixed with working hard and playing hard.

Melbourne/Gold Coast trip was really fun. I was pretty impressed with the amount of things to do in Melbourne city! There is the Fed Square where we participated in the winter light festival on one of the weekends, where there were performances and a beautifully lit pyramid of lights. Chinatown in Melbourne was bustling and seemed authentically Asia, heaps better than the Chinatown in Brisbane which is labelled as the red light district (danger zone). As our hotel was located at Chinatown, we had to walk past Chinatown everyday. I think I have been to Melbourne’s Chinatown more than Brissy’s. Melbourne city closes way later than Brisbane city as well which is super awesome! Woolies was still open at 9+ near 10! Certain boutiques were still open at around 7+, 8 on Sunday when Brisbane shops closes at 5 sharp on Sunday!

But the less populous city of Brisbane appeals to me more. The amount of people in Brisbane is just nice to me, not too many and not too little. That’s one of the good things I like about Brissy, other than the weather!

Besides city touring in Melbourne, we went on a day tour to Great Ocean Road and Philip Island. Although it was freezing cold, it was still a great experience! The good thing about the tours was that I didn’t have motion sickness!! It was probably because I ate medicine and slept almost throughout the whole bus rides. Waking up really early in the morning for the tours helped too. ;)

I’ve nothing much to rave about for Gold Coast since I’ve been there 485720302348023 times. Hahaaa, you know that’s figurative right?

I will blog more soon…. I think I’ve depleted my writing juices last semester (sem 1, 2011).

My favourite Professor in UQ

This evening, while taking a bus home from uni, I spotted my Asian Studies prof sitting a few seats in front of me. Apparently he was reading some sort of Japanese catalogue on Japanese visual art, i.e. paintings, calligraphy, ceramic art, etc. I thought in my head, “that is so Dr Low”. He never ceases to amaze me with his passion towards Japanese culture and his overall enthusiasm towards Asian Studies. Of course, being the Asian Studies major convenor he SHOULD be passionate towards it. But compared to other profs I’d encounter in my uni life, he exudes the most passion for the courses he’s teaching. Whenever I coincidentally spot him somewhere in uni or on the bus, he would be reading something. And he always provides lots of reading materials during his classes each week. I’ve taken his courses for three semesters and always enjoyed his classes, no doubt writing blog entries each week is kind of troublesome at times, but I think that it does reinforces what we learnt during lessons.

Oh his passion for Japanese culture goes way back I reckon. It seems he had lived in Japan for a few years and is pretty fluent in Japanese. He’s an Australian born Chinese/Hong Kong, I think. And he teaches Japanese popular culture in UQ, a course which I took in my first semester.

I find that he’s a really good example for me. His passion and quest for knowledge seems limitless… well that’s the feeling I get from him whenever I attend his classes, or see him reading some article about Asia/Japan. I hope I can cultivate this kind of passion towards reading and gaining more knowledge. Also for this passion to keep burning till I retire or even after!!

Busiest semester of my uni life!!!

Very busy, very very busy. Just taking a break to blog….. about me being busy. –_-;

This busy life will not end even when my exams end because my sister and cousin are coming over to Aus and we’ll be busy playing!!!

My free time will start in July and that’s when I’ll be very free, very very free.

Our one year anniversary!!

I can’t believe I’ve been in a relationship for a year!

Although we spent most of our time apart, I have never felt so in love in my life before, even now. There were definitely times I didn’t feel positive about the relationship but his assurance and love for me has kept me going… In an LDR, trust is the most important thing that will keep the relationship alive (probably for a non-LDR too) and he has managed to make me trust in him completely… When we were physically together during those short period of times, he made me feel like I can depend on him. He has done so much for me, I even feel guilty not being able to do as much for him.

Before being committed in a relationship, I always thought how people could get married and stay together forever… Won’t the love fade away? Won’t they feel sick of each other?

But this relationship has taught me, that it is possible… maybe it’s too early to say now, but I feel like I can stay with him and love him forever… I really love him so much. ^^

I can’t believe I’m blogging like this… like a typical teenage girl blogger talking about how she loves her bf and blah blah blah.. Hehe. I really hate reading those kind of blogs but now here I am typing those things myself.

Negativity….

I’ve been feeling horrible these few days. This negative feeling has been residing in me for a couple of weeks now. I feel so unhappy, unloved, unimportant. Maybe I’m just being overly emotional……

OMG…

I can’t believe how LITTLE I’ve done for my assignments during the Easter break!! I’ve only achieved 10% of the things I’d planned to do!! I slacked, watched shows, went karaoke and spent most of the time on this tutorial presentation that isn’t worth any marks!

Okay, so I did some work, but really I played a lot and now that the new term has started it’s going to be HELL. T.T

Guitar learning has been slow but definitely progressing. I find myself getting more and more keen in wanting to master the guitar each time I practise. I can also feel the thickening of skin at my fingertips although the pain is still there every time I fret. Hopefully I am able to keep on practising everyday even though the new term has started!

One of my favourite meals!! Roasted (and nicely marinated) chicken, with steamed veges and rice! It’s soooooo good because the chicken has been pre-marinated when I bought them! LOL. It’s affordable too!

And some random funny photos:

Listening to DBSK’s songs all over again.

It’s weird that I’ve never been to a REAL noraebang/노래방 (karaoke in Korean) once during my one-month stay in Korea but in the past four days, I have been there twice here in Brissy! Gabby and I found a really nice noraebang, it’s not that cheap but I really like the entire ambience, the friendly staff and the nice rooms! Well, as compared to the other noraebang (I used to only know that one in the city), this new noraebang is so much better!

It feels really good to just sing your heart out and also to know that at least we have another THING we can do in the city. LOL. During these two noraebang sessions, I have sang almost all the DBSK songs they have, ALMOST. From this, I realised that I need to re-listen to their songs again, not because I don’t know how to sing their songs but because I’m in a new phase right now. This new phase refers to my grasp of Korean.

Back then, when I first became their fan, I relied on the musical side of the songs to appreciate them since the language forbade me from understanding the lyrics. It was a phase of zero Korean knowledge. Now that I’m in a whole new phase with a higher standard of the language, I find myself re-discovering their old songs. Songs which I had put on replay endlessly on my mp3, songs which only to their rhythms I can hum to. Right now, I have entered a phase that not only appreciates the musical side of Korean songs but the lyrical side as well. Currently, I found myself appreciating the lyrics of Korean songs more and more, but at the same time I had drifted away from DBSK’s songs because it’s saddening to listen to their songs when they were 5. It is also sad to listen to either 2 or 3 of them but I still do, just not as much as I used to.

Going to noraebang and singing their old songs, made me read the lyrics and that’s when I realised how beautiful the lyrics of their songs are. Back then, I wasn’t that keen in reading English translations because I thought reading them sort of destroyed the feelings I get from listening to their songs. But sometimes for non-Korean speakers, it is difficult to show them how beautiful their lyrics are without English translations (which might not do justice to the original Korean lyrics).

In addition, this new phase not only includes my grasp of Korean, my relationship status does make everything different as well. Hehe. Honestly, I tend to appreciate love songs more now that I’m attached. What is so much more emotional is when these love songs I appreciate comes from DBSK.

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Side note: If you guys didn’t realise, I took away my tag board because it seems kind of useless when only two or three people are tagging. Well maybe those are the only readers left (sad), but if any of you need to say something just post a comment in the post. AND, tick the boxes at the end of each blog post! Haha.. actually I ticked one of them myself in the previous post. :P

Here comes the Mid-term break!

I’m currently on my one-week mid-term break! Hoorah for that! After all that assignment writing and minimal playing in the first term, this break is a much-needed one. I’m also taking this time to start on some really huge assignments that are due couple of weeks after the break. If I can make full use of this break, life is going to be pretty okay, not as stressful, when the 2nd term starts. Hopefully I can because knowing myself, when my mind knows it’s holidays it will change into the holiday mood and to me, whatever assignments are just.. “I’ll do them later. I still have time. It’s the holidays, I need to relax!” And before I know it, the new term starts.

Anyway, I’ve started learning the guitar like what I mentioned earlier on! I remember learning a little bit of guitar during my secondary school days (8 freaking years ago). In my memory, it was horrifying due to the painful fingertips resulted from playing on the instrument! Now I learnt that playing the guitar requires the building up of calluses, which means the thickening of skin at the tip of your fingers so that it won’t be painful when you fret the guitar strings. Yes, as a newbie my fingertips are burning right now! It’s too painful, how can I practice?! According to the (almighty) internet and the book, Guitar for Dummies (borrowed from my housemate), practicing at least 30mins everyday will gradually take the pain away. Of course, if it REALLY hurts I’ll have to stop and rest. Sometimes it hurts so much I couldn’t fret properly. >< Because of the pain, it took me 5 days to learn and memorise 3 chords, thus I conclude that I have to be really patient before I can truly master the guitar.

Facebook world domination

The World Is Obsessed With Facebook from Alex Trimpe on Vimeo.

Guess what?!

I’m already more than half way through the semester! It’s week 7 and that means only 5 more weeks to go! Is that freaky or what? Times flies like shit! Not literally of course. After the Easter break, I’ll be so damn busy I don’t know what to say!!! So I have to play more during the break like 60% to 40% of studying! :P

Oh and I made a new Korean friend! He’s from my political science class! Woohoo finally a friend from that class! But he’s leaving at the end of this semester because he’s only here for one semester of exchange. Bummer. Why is it that Korean friends I make don’t stay long here… –_-;;;

I feel a need to post.

I just finished one of my assignments so I’m feeling pretty accomplished!! :D The past 3 weeks have been non-stop essay writing and thinking, occasionally I might feel brain-dead in the middle but I’m glad I managed to pull through smoothly. I’ve got only one assignment left before the “mid-term break”… that’s all good but I feel that if I lose this working momentum, it’s gonna be difficult to go back to working again! But one has got to relax, take a break, do some other things instead of assignments all the time right? :)

I have some plans for myself this Easter break since I’m not going to travel around. Besides starting on assignments (bummer –_-), I may attempt to learn the guitar! My housemate has a guitar which he rarely uses, maybe only on special occasions for his church activities, other than that the guitar just sits there collecting dust. He says he’s willing to lend me the guitar and even his guitar book! Awesome right? :) Also, he’s a drummer in his church, so when I told him I used to be in a band and I know such things as strokes since I was a percussionist, he was so shocked. Haha, but I had always stuck to the glockenspiel, xylophone or other accessories when I was in band so i didn’t had much chance to play the drums. He said next time we go to church, he can let me play on the drums.

It made me think back of sec sch days, when we were forced to go to Band. I kind of regretted not practicing more for my strokes, I regretted not getting more involved in band and I also regretted not trying to play on the drums. When I think back, CCA does help one to acquire an extra skill especially when you’re in a band, you get to play on the instrument which hones your musical skills. I think it’s really good to have an extra skill, besides just studying academically. “Hands-on” skill, be it a sport, instrument, arts & craft, dancing, etc.

Somehow I feel being able to do something else besides excelling in academics enriches one’s life. Because trying different things is what life is all about… Don’t just live for the sake of living, earning money money money, blah blah blah…

Since we’re living,  I want to try new things, learn new stuff, and make the most of life. This coming holiday in July, the one-month break, I’m also planning to learn something new. I’m not going to say what in here yet. It’s still too early… :)

Loner? or Individualism?

I don’t know what is it, that the problem lies with me or is this just Aussie Uni life? I have been studying in UQ for nearly 2 years now and yet there is not more than 2 people in my mobile phone whom I can call out for a meal without feeling like I’m disturbing them (because we’re not that close). I find myself eating alone during lunch time in school, spending free time away on computer instead of chit-chatting with friends in uni. I hardly make any friends whom I can hang out with after school. It is always “hi-bye” kind of friends. We sit together in class, we talk during class, but after the class ends, so does our interaction. Our interaction does not go beyond the walls of the lecture room.

I do have a couple of close friends (Asians, of course) in Brissy, but the thing is I don’t know if they think that I’m also THEIR close friend. We may contact each other few times a week, most of the time just once or sometimes even none. So I think of them as good friends but we don’t really hang out much outside school. It makes me wonder if they think me as their close friend…

The thing about Aussie uni life, a lot of people are OKAY with eating alone, doing things alone, hanging out alone in uni. Most are Aussie people but I do see a lot of Asians eating alone as well. Sometimes I even have the urge to go up to them and talk to them, have lunch with them. Maybe I should? I guess it does reflects the western individualistic culture in Aus. Students hanging out by themselves and being totally cool with that. Of course I would rather eat with a friend than spending lunch time alone. Sometimes throughout my uni day I would not even have the chance to talk. Like Monday, it is a full day of Political Science class and I have not made a single friend from that course. WTH am I doing?

I feel like such a loner eating by myself during lunch time in the noisy cafeteria where it seems like everyone has got somebody to talk to. But when I look more closer, there will be some other “loners” having lunch by themselves. On an even more closer look, there are quite aplenty of them. Was I forcefully dragged into this sphere of individualistic culture? Yes. But when one stays in a place with a culture that is so different from your own, you WILL get sucked in.

Am I a loner or am I just Individualistic? It depends on where you come from.

I wish my social life could be so much more vibrant than just school, assignment and home.

I want to go to Korea so bad!!!!!!!!!!!!

Because I miss him so bad!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Bizarre Story

In my Thursday's Asian Visual Cultures lecture, we were on the topic of Western images of Asia. We watched a documentary about how this French diplomat got into a relationship with a Chinese man thinking he was a female!  They even had a kid (fake one of course)! This actually went on for 18 years. WTH. Totally OhEmGee. You can read about this funny yet bizarre story here: http://zagria.blogspot.com/2010/03/shi-pei-pu-1938-2009-opera-dancersinger.html

The point my prof was trying to make in showing us this documentary was how the westerners held such stereotypical views of Asian people- that they are petite, shy and delicate. In a way, they had feminized Asian people. Of course, the link above doesn’t really go into much details of the whole affair as much as the documentary did. The documentary we watched was of an interview of the French guy himself, so he really gave full details of his experience with Shi Pei Pu, his Chinese partner. This story was then adapted into films and plays, so if you’re interested you can search for ‘M Butterfly’. I think it’s a really interesting story and if I do find the time, I might watch M Butterfly one day.

So little time now…

I have so many things I want to blog about, to share about what I’ve learnt in my classes but right now, deadlines for assignments are catching up so all I can do is read read read and write write write. :(

No time for anything else except a little bit of FB, chatting and eating.

I doubt I’ll remember what to blog about after all these…

Motivation seeping away

Oh my god. I have been awfully unproductive the past few days ever since last Friday. Did not complete my readings for tute on Monday, have not start working on an essay which I had planned to during the weekend and just absolutely no motivation to start reading anything else! The only thing I achieved was completing my weekly homework early for one of my courses! That is by far the most interesting course, the course on Asian Visual Cultures. Even though it’s all about art and film, and can be a little difficult to write about, but compared to the rest of my courses it’s the most interesting one. The rest are just… snooze-worthy.

Cooking…

I’ve decided that I cannot keep having stir-fry chicken with vegetables or ra-myeon or tom-yam noodles or sandwiches for the rest of the 8 months in Brissy. I’ve also decided to take cooking a little more serious and attempt to up my cooking skills. This, I will start from mastering Korean dishes!

So far out of all the Korean dishes, I have made Korean pancakes and Spicy Rice Cakes (with instant sauce) before. After an evening of home-made Korean “feast” with my housemates last week, I honestly still need lots of improvements  for those even though I have cooked them multiple times. Yesterday I made two new attempts at the Spicy rice cakes (떡볶이) and Korean bean paste stew (된장찌개). Instead of using instant sauce, I made  spicy rice cakes from scratch, using hot pepper paste, chilli powder and dried anchovies.

It was a little tad salty, but other than that I thought it was pretty good. Hehe.

Oh I added instant noodles, so it should be called Ra-bokki (라볶이) instead. Ramyeon+ ddukbokki.

For the Korean bean paste stew, I went online to Korean search engine naver.com to look for a simple recipe. Actually I skimmed through several bean paste stew recipe but I used the naver recipe as my base point and started from there. Apparently there are different (but not big in variation) ways to make a stew (찌개) be it bean paste stew or Kimchi stew, etc.

 
Ingredients I used for the stew. (I didn’t use carrot)


Boiling stew, looking good.


Ready to eat. Boiling stew looks better with the spring onions on top… :P

I actually modified the recipe a little since I don’t exactly have all the ingredients needed to make an exact same stew but I want to make one that Koreans usually make. It’s a little difficult to do so since I have to go to the city to get ingredients. Oh wait, a new Korean shop just opened around this area, I should go and check it out. :P

Anyway as I’ve stated in Facebook, the taste of the stew didn’t taste too bad but I definitely need more practise. However, since I don’t eat a lot of Korean bean paste stew at Korean restaurants, I’ve forgotten how they should taste like! Yesterday I was not really sure if it tasted right although the taste itself was okay, but does it have that Korean taste, I’m not so sure. I need to go to a Korean restaurant soon to do “research”. Lol.

Of course, I am not going to restrict myself to just Korean food, it is just my starting point.