last year i played around with some new design ideas, but never got around to finishing any of the designs to actually make into a website design. well, i decided to take advantage of the last 2 and a half week vacation in between semesters, and make a new design for my website. i’m happy with how it’s turned out. although i started it during vacation, i ended up spending half of the time working on a web project for someone at my church, so i had to postpone finishing up until now. there are still a few details i want to fix, as well as add in my portfolio, and make it look and feel more professional. and also update the site more frequently!

let me know what you think of the new design. good, bad, ideas, etc.

Mr. Choi of Choi's Taco

Today was the first game for Korea in the World Cup. Many people outside were wearing red shirts to support the red color of Korea’s soccer team. I spent most of the day inside working on homework and my own website design. I did happen to go outside to get a burrito for dinner at Choi’s Taco.

I go to Choi’s Taco at least once a week and get large chicken and rice burrito. A lot of foreigner’s get food here, and Mr. Choi makes his workers speak in English to any foreigners who come in. His English is very good, as well as the food he makes. Supposedly, the “legend” is that he studied who to cook Mexican food in Mexico or Argentina. I’m not sure how true it is, but Mr. Choi is very nice and always says hi to everyone who comes in. And since I go their pretty often, he always recognizes me and asks me how I’m doing.

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like the title says, it’s been a while since i last posted on my site. why, you ask? well, my life here has become busier and busier it seems… that and i get distracted or interested in other things, and well, i’ve ignored updating my site for a while now…

i’ll try to do a quick recount of what’s been going on since my last post back at the end of last august. (wow, it’s been 8 months already? ok, it’s been a long while!) my mom visited me for 2 weeks during a break between semesters. we did a lot of site-seeing and it was a lot of fun. i also visited California and Washington state for a 3 week vacation which was also a lot of fun. i got to see friends, relatives and family, and enjoy a nice Christmas. it took a little while to get used to the style of life in the US right at first, but it wasn’t too bad. even though i was in the US, i automatically thought to myself “wow! there are a lot of foreigners at this airport!”

i finally made it to level 4 at Yonsei University’s Korean language course. but i mid-way through i decided to quit Yonsei and attend Sogang University which offers a Korean language course. the difference, and reason i joined Sogang, is because of it’s large focus on speaking practice. we spend the majority of the class time speaking. Yonsei was nice, but it had a large focus on grammar, writing and reading. these are all important, but compared to Sogang, there wasn’t much focus on speaking. so i’ve been enjoying Sogang a lot and it’s actually helped my confidence in speaking a whole lot more from just the 6-7 weeks i’ve been there. i will take another semester after this current one, and then i’ll need to find a job.

the weather here in Korea has been very cold for about 6 months straight. it finally started t warm up a few weeks ago. it’s now in the 40′s and 50′s and sometimes it get’s warm enough to get into the low 60′s. this has felt nice, but the change of weather seems to cause a lot of people to catch colds. i had a small cold not too long ago, as well as a strange sudden lack of energy feeling that caused me to have strange eyesight and kind of lose my hearing. it was painful, but only lasted maybe 5-10 minutes. i’m fine now though

i have to get to studying and other things now…

it was one year ago today when i arrived here in Korea. it doesn’t seem like that long ago actually. i remember being a bit worried when i first came here; will i be able to find an apartment? will i get all the school stuff figured out? will my friends be at the airport to pick me up? well, everything worked out after i arrived. my friends were at the airport and they helped me get set up with an apartment, bank account, Visa change, etc. i’m very thankful for the friends i’ve met here who have helped me get adjusted to living here. actually, there wasn’t much of any culture shock when i came here. maybe it’d be different if i had moved to the more country parts of Korea, but here in Seoul it’s very similar to the big cities in the US (except for the big language difference).

the time passed very fast. i’m not too great at the Korean language yet, but i can communicate somewhat with people better than when i first started. i’ve gained some good friends from language exchange and English tutoring, and also met many from my church at different events and dance practice. it’s been a good experience

learning Korean is taking a bit longer than i thought it would. i had to retake the level 2 course, and might have to retake the level 3 too. i’ll probably be here for another year, and then i’ll be looking for a job where i can hopefully use this language i’ve been learning. i’m earning a little money from the English tutoring, but it’s not enough to cover the bills i pay here, so i’m going through a lot of my savings. hopefully it’ll work out after i finish

a shovelful of kittens

some stray cats live right outside of my apartment window, and not too long ago a momma cat had some kittens. i’ve counted 4 of them playing around wrestling each other and climbing in the bushes, but today when i looked outside, i saw three of them huddled together on a shovel. it was too cute too pass up taking a picture. and if anyone is interested, you can download a 1600px by 1200px version of this picture and are welcome to use as you please

Angry Whopper

first the Whopper Jr. was angry, and it seemed like all was better since all signs of the Whopper Jr. being angry had disappeared from the local Burger King. but now the normal Whopper and Steakhouse burger are angry! you are probably asking “why are these hamburgers angry?” well, according to the Korean on the poster, it says “When life is angry…! It’s a really burning taste! New Angry Whopper.” the translation may sound a little odd, but i think Burger King is trying to get people to eat an angry burger if their life is angry XD

the burgers have added “Angry Sauce” and “Spicy Mushrooms” which, according to Burger King, when combined causes anger. my friend said “i’d be angry too if i found those extra things on my Whopper!” (he dislikes mushrooms). i’m curious to try it, but the price is a bit high: 6900 won for the Angry Whopper combo and 8600 won for the Steakhouse combo. that comes out to be $5.60 and $7 respectively. maybe i’ll just try the sandwich without the combo extras…

since Burger King has “angrified” some of its hamburgers, it got me thinking of other emotionally charged food they could create. maybe something like “Apathetic Onion Rings” or “Bored Salad” for those times when you are feeling apathetic or bored.

Crowded Myeongdong

it’s already august! i’ve been living in Korea now for almost a year. the time is flying by very quickly! the level 3 semester at school is halfway over. i did so-so on the midterms… Listening is still the hardest and i got a 50% score Reading was a 65.5%, Speaking was a surprising 78% and on the Writing test i got an 81%. i think the biggest reason for the low scores is not studying the many many new words well enough. also, comprehending everything very quickly is tough to do… but the words are the killer; i’ll study words and think i know them, but then when i hear them spoken, i have no idea what the word is. i guess i just need more practice. unless i can get in the 90% range for the finals, i’m thinking i may have to retake level 3. even though i’d like to pass it and move on to level 4, i’m partially thinking it would be more beneficial to take level 3 again. or maybe i’m just making up excuses?

i caught the new Harry Potter movie here. i really enjoyed it a lot, and have been wanting to watch it again, but i probably won’t get a chance until it comes to DVD–too busy and also other movies i want to see too. at Korean theatres you can get a 1-4 page flier promoting the movie. i usually grab a flier of the movies i’ve watched here. this is the flier for Harry Potter.

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