Galileo Galilei - Swan

I love every single song by this band...that's all I have to say on that point. Hopefully I'll get to see them live some day!

I was walking around campus today and it struck me just how different it is to go to school here in California, compared to Vancouver. The main difference, of course, is the sunshine...but then that sunshine effects everything else. Seeing students walking around in brightly colored shorts and T-shirts and tank tops and sunglasses...eating frozen yogurt and lounging on the grass...not scurrying about in rain and darkness...it's like a different world and I quite like it. It makes learning more fun, although it's harder to concentrate when all you want to do is eat the previously mentioned frozen yogurt while lounging on that lovely green grass. 

I met more lovely students (and teachers!) today and I can't wait to start teaching! 

Also, spanakopita may have become one of my favorite foods...somehow it sneaked up on me and now I can't get enough of it :-O

Fleet Foxes for Fall

I absolutely adore listening to Fleet Foxes at this time of year - it's cozy and heartwarming and all the harmonies somehow match this season perfectly. 

Today I finally started working again - exciting! This week is orientation week, so there's no actual teaching, but it's still exciting to meet the new students and help them settle into their programs. I met so many lovely people from all around the world...Korea, Japan, Saudi Arabia, Argentina, Russia... It's a special place to be and, for me, the most ideal job situation. I hope everything goes well!

The classroom I was in today didn't happen to feature functional air conditioning (less ideal!) so I was super hot and went straight for frozen yogurt after work. I've also been buying more and more kombucha lately. It's so refreshing and hopefully as healthy as it's supposed to be. Mass produced fermented products can't be as good as homemade ones, but I don't think I'll be making any of my own kombucha any time soon. A friend offered me her scoby once, but I was too terrified to accept it haha. 

Fleet Foxes, tea, and another sunny day tomorrow :-)

Hello September, hello autumn, hello sunshine

Seasonal changes are times of transition, and as such they always make me feel a little scattered and pulled in different directions. Hold on to the last bits of summer, prepare for the crispness of fall, run around outside, contemplate Deep Things while looking at clouds, do academic productive things, have a movie marathon complete with popcorn and blankets, think of the future, live in the moment...sometimes I just don't know what to do with myself and then I end up doing nothing, and that can be okay too. Also, as much as getting older disturbs and confounds me, I do feel a lot more grounded and solid and sure of what I want and what I need. Time is not a thing, but when it adds up it becomes meaningful. Maybe. 

Last Saturday I went to Birch Aquarium and enjoyed being (not literally) submerged in beautiful underwater worlds. Being a terrible swimmer and unwilling to do much more beyond dabbling in shallow waters, I will probably never go scuba diving but I absolutely adore aquariums since they provide a glimpse of this magical otherworldly universe that actually truly exists. Also, I touched an anemone of some sort and the way it grabs and entwines your finger is kind of exciting. Interaction with nature, yes. A lifetime of not having any pets makes it that much easier to fall for the cuteness of little anemones. I did not touch the sea cucumber though. 

Here's to a fabulous, stunningly gorgeous September. Bring on the apples.

James Blake - The Wilhelm Scream...

I'm obsessed with this song...it's stunning, gorgeous, utterly addictive. 

This weekend I moved to a new house and am now stuck with billions of boxes to unpack. The good point is uncovering fun things I'd forgotten about, and finally getting my hands on my guitar, after almost 2 years of not playing, eek! 

The weather's gotten a bit chilly so it's been fun feeling cozy inside. I thought it would make it easier to study since I wouldn't feel so tempted to run around outside...but it didn't. I should not be surprised.

I cannot believe it's November already. Wow.

Nashville - Fade Into You

I can't say I've ever been much of a country music fan, but I do enjoy cowboy boots, acoustic guitar performances, strings of lights strewn around the room, and the new show 'Nashville'. Connie Britton is my hero and Clare Bowen has the voice of an angel. Unfortunately her sweet character's boyfriend is atrocious (but extremely attractive...he was in 'Tuck Everlasting', which I watched more times than I would care to admit...ahem (strangely enough he really looks as though he hasn't aged a day)). 

So this song was on the latest episode of the show and I keep listening to it over and over again. It's so good! And it's a waltz, I love a good old-fashioned waltz. And emotional intensity, oh my!

It's midterm time at school so I've been doing lots of "studying" while simultaneously unearthing irrelevant bits and pieces of fascinating information on the interwebs and thinking about pumpkins. And drinking Trader Joe's Sipping Chocolate, otherwise known as elixir of the gods.

Wild Nothing - Nocturne

Sadly, I have no pictures to post even though I desperately want to adorn the screen with clear blue skies, ravishing sunsets, and opulent moonlight. 

Since I can't quite do that, here is a beautiful song instead. 

Perfect for a crisp autumn day :-)

Friday Tid Bits...

Now that I no longer need to desperately study Korean in order to survive, I have devoted more time to studying Russian. And it's amazing. Seriously, this language is so beautiful, complex, full of depth and singular beauty and elegance. The thought of forgetting my first language terrifies me so I'm going to work extra hard to hold on to it and practice, practice, practice. The great thing is that this involves watching awesome movies and reading gorgeous poetry. With an English translation on the side, of course ;-)

This song is from one of my favourite Russian films, called 'The Irony of Fate'. It's kind of a romantic comedy, but as with many Russian things, it's also emotional and expressive and poetic and reflects on life and relationships in a moving way. 

On a different note, I also read Mindy Kaling's book 'Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me' and laughed so hard. She is hilarious and so easy to relate to and just super fun. 

Temperatures reached approximately 35 degrees this week (I still haven't wrapped my head around the concept of Fahrenheit, give me time please) so my pumpkin pecan oatmeal from Trader Joe's (woohoo, Trader Joe's!!!) wasn't quite as comforting as it has the potential to be. I almost worked up a sweat eating it, which could be deemed the opposite of comfortable.

Have a cozy weekend! :-)

Happy Particles - Infinite Jet

Had to post again because this is gorgeous and absolutely perfect for a sleepy October Tuesday...I just want to wrap myself up in these sounds ;-)

Autumnal Ramblings + The Smiths - Cemetery Gates

The Queen Is Dead is my favorite Smiths album and it always feels autumnal to me - gorgeous, reflective, jangly poetry that serves as perfect accompaniment on a solitary walk. And if you see any gladiolus flowers, you can tuck them into your back pocket and sing to the trees ;-) Ahem, moving right along...

I think fall has become my favorite season. Not when it's dreary and rainy but when it caresses you with warm sunshine and sends yellow leaves floating gently down into your hair. It's the best time for getting a little introspective, writing productively, drinking chardonnay, skipping, biting into a crisp apple, saying hellos and goodbyes, and fetching an extra cup of milky tea.

I'm doing my best to savour the elegance, sweet fieriness, and coziness of this season. How lucky we are to be surrounded by such striking beauty.

Bat for Lashes - Marilyn...and Life Lately!

I'm so excited for Bat for Lashes' new album - The Haunted Man! This song, Marilyn, is my favourite one from the album so far. It's just gorgeous and dreamy and makes me want to stare at the stars. Listen and feel your heart swell.

So I still can't believe that summer's over. I've never before experienced an October when I could still wear shorts and tank tops and sandals and feel meltingly hot sitting by the ocean under a shining sun.

One thing that makes it feel more like fall is going back to school. My first week was actually super fun and it was great to finally make some friends my age since moving to California. The UCSD campus is huge, beautiful, and has a friendly, easygoing atmosphere. When I walk around I feel like I'm in a movie haha. 

Ooh, the other thing about fall - there's pumpkin and Halloween stuff EVERYWHERE. It's so beyond the offerings available in Canada. Trader Joe's alone has multiple seasonal products that all look amazing and perfect for a cozy autumnal evening. Yesterday I bought some pumpkin pecan oatmeal. It's also gotten cool enough in the evenings that I can truly enjoy my cups of tea :-)

Yesterday I went on an official tour of the 3 main theatres on UCSD campus. La Jolla Playhouse is so cool! And Gregory Peck was one of its founding members! And their upcoming performance is Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots! It sounds like the best thing ever and I will definitely be attending. Lately I've been thinking about how much I miss theatre and acting and being involved in creative team work so I'm going to try to somehow get involved on campus. We'll see.

Lastly, I've been watching Project Runway and a few nights ago Dmitry showed up in my dreams! So odd...he's just the kind of vampire ghost guy who would haunt people. I do like his designs though. My favourite to win is Christopher :-)

Ahem, enough about that and let's wrap things up shall we? There's work, homework, and pumpkin related activities to be done :-)

Apple Season

This song doesn't exactly fit the whole apple season theme but it feels cozy and appropriate on this cool morning. The only clue I have that summer is over is cooler mornings and nights. Days are still hot and sunny and summery. Will I ever stop talking about the weather here? Hopefully. Yes, hopefully so...

One of the best things about this season is the produce - like delicious crisp apples! And consequently, apple pie! I recently heard about a little town called Julian and now I really want to go there and check out all the apples. My spirit will ever remain cutting edgingly adventurous. Ahem.

So yes, it may not be windy or grey or cold and the leaves may not be changing colour, but it still feels like the time to bake has come. And by bake I do not mean take the Trader Joe's almond croissants out of the box to defrost and pop them in the oven...and then feel surrounded by the smell of pastry heaven, where pastries fly around languidly and you can catch one and take a bite and then catch another one and obviously none of them have any calories.

Now it's Wednesday so I should go and do some kind of vacation-y thing before school starts on Monday. Pencil sharpening is not on my list as of yet.

Cheerio!

A Very Warm November

So this clearly isn't a November photo - rather it's a blurry little shot of a gorgeous view found on beautiful Jeju Island. I've been neglecting my autumnal photo taking duties which is not so smart because the autumn season here is incredibly lovely - the leaves change colour and the soft rolling mountains become blanketed with bright orange, yellow, and red leaves. When the sun lights everything up it looks like paradise. But now it's mid November so the leaves are drying up and falling down. I'm afraid I've missed my chance!

I've been spending more time indoors lately, feeling cozy and watching movies while the days get darker and darker. Last night I watched Rise of Planet of the Apes and found it to be surprisingly moving and powerful. It's pretty amazing when a big blockbuster movie that features expensive, flashy special effects can also tell a good story and sometimes even deliver a thought-provoking message. I thought the same thing about Avatar actually and was disappointed that so many critics said great things about the movie's stunning special effects while dismissing the story as derivative and nothing special. Just because we've heard something before, doesn't mean it's no longer a valuable, meaningful message. Sometimes we become so hardened and cynical, we can't even be touched by the simplest, most deeply human emotions and instincts. I think this kind of numbness to life is really terrifying and hope that we can regain some of our innocence and earnestness.

Anywho, as usual I'm going off on tangents. It's time for me to head out and meet some co-teachers for a delicious lunch at a salad bar buffet, yum!! I will continue my ramblings soon :-)

Cheerio!

Happy October!

Autumn here is so incredibly beautiful - I cannot get used to it! In Vancouver, Fall means big fat rainclouds and weeks of ongoing darkness and dampness. Here, Fall is a celebration of changing colours, crisp air, and gorgeous sunshine. Yesterday I even ate ice cream after a day of walking around downtown :-) And I also bought two pairs of flat shoes for the new season. There are lots of  stores downtown that only sell flat shoes and nothing else. Prices are very reasonable, so far I've been pleased with the quality, and the stores themselves are cute and cozy. The shoes are so pretty and unique :-)

I think I haven't really mentioned the street food here before. There are lots of delicious things you can easily buy on the street but my favourites by far are Fall/Winter treats such as roasted chestnuts, 붕어빵 and 국화빵 - the last two are little bread things with a red bean filling. They are so warm and soft and just perfect on a crisp day.

Lastly, these photos are from my trip to Jeju Island. Sometimes people call it the Korean Hawaii and it used to be Korea's #1 honeymoon destination. The island is stunningly beautiful. It really feels like you're getting away from normal, everyday city life when you go there. The natural beauty of the island, the colour of the water, the waterfalls and caves...it's all breathtaking! I could easily have stayed there for a longer time but even four days was rejuvenating and delightful :-)

Ah, and on a rather different note, I've been racking my brain trying to think of which university to go to for my Masters degree and I recently discovered that many universities in England offer a TESOL Masters program (this kind of program is not common in Canada). So - maybe I can combine two dreams and go to England for postgraduate school! I've been looking at the University of Bath...could it really happen? I really really hope so! So I should stop buying shoes and save money for life and education in England :-)

Cheerio!

Autumn Leaves

Oh dear, it's autumn already! Oops! I had a long summer vacation full of sunshine, patbingsu (shaved ice with ice cream, red beans, and fruit), cute cafes, lazy days, exciting days, and carefree fun :-D

I feel very settled now and everything seems to be going smoothly, although my Korean skills are still very basic and not as good as I would like. I'm afraid I haven't been a very diligent student!

I actually miss writing a lot. In university I was forced to do it regularly. Even though writing essays was challenging and hard work, it still provided a great creative outlet and I felt so good whenever I finished an essay, printed it out, and held the warm paper in my hands - hot off the presses! It's great to make something seemingly out of air - especially when you're dealing with words rather than something more tangible. Spinning words and carefully placing them together is like magic in a way. I miss making that magic happen :-) Blogs are so great at providing people with a splendid creative outlet - even if they are not professional writers or publishing geniuses. Everyone has a voice and it's lovely to get a little glimpse of other people's worlds through their writing.

Anywho, enough babbling! Today I'd like to mention three things: my trip to Seoul for Chuseok weekend, a gayageum performance that I attended recently, and returning back to school (work). Wow, that's a lot!

Chuseok is similar to Thanksgiving. Families get together, perform special ceremonies to honour their ancestors, and cook and eat lots of delicious food. One of these foods is songpyeon - rice cakes with various fillings like sesame seeds and honey. This year I got the chance to go to Seoul for Chuseok weekend - my very first visit there! It's a big city with lots to see and do. We didn't have a lot of time, so we saw some of the major sights like the biggest palace, Han River, some famous statues and a museum, city hall, the 63 building (with a great view from the top), and a traditional folk village. It's impossible to convey the beauty and uniqueness of these places using words alone - they're meant to be seen and experienced. That whole weekend I felt very excited and energized. It was so fun to explore a new place and do everything spontaneously rather than following the same everyday routine. Traveling makes it possible to really live in the moment. Eating lots of delicious food is great too!

Next up, one Friday evening after work I got the chance to see a gayageum ensemble. A gayageum is a traditional Korean instrument with a very unique sound that I love. At this performance, three young ladies played the gayageum and they were sometimes accompanied by other instruments such as the drums, bass guitar, and jazz piano for a kind of fusion-y modern, really fantabulous sound! I enjoyed it from start to finish and would love to see something like this again!

Lastly, I've been back at work for over a month now and once again the semester is flying by! Recently the kids took part in an English contest and memorized and recited stories or poems, or performed a play depending on their grade. It was so much fun to watch them! I feel incredibly lucky to have the chance to teach such sweet, lovely, cheerful students :-D

My goals now are to keep improving as a teacher, to explore more of Korea, to study Korean and become a more diligent student!!!, and to keep living in the moment and enjoying each day! Living here still feels like a dream! Woohoo!

Cheerio!

Happy Halloween!

Agh, wow, it's November next week, when did that happen? Not that I'm complaining - I can't wait for the holiday season :-)

Yesterday we celebrated Halloween at school and it was oodles of fun. Most of the students don't have this holiday in their countries so they were taking photos of each other's costumes all day with great enthusiasm. Of course I forgot my camera, eek!

But there was a reason for that! I found out that my EPIK application had never been received after I'd e-mailed it so I spent Thursday evening preparing all my documents and handed them in to the Korean Consulate right after school on Friday. STRESS!!! I hope everything goes more smoothly now. I should have known by now - it's always better to do things in person.

This is a photo from a traditional Korean restaurant in downtown Daegu. It was sooooooo good. The mandu in the middle tasted pretty much the same as Russian dumplings, I was so surprised. Mmmm, delicious :-) And because there were five of us we got plenty of side dishes :-)

Okay, time to get the weekend started! Have a spectacular day!

So Happy!

This weekend was so beautiful...maybe not weather wise but in other ways...this Fall everything seems to be clicking into place and flowing in a wonderful way! I really feel like I'm on the right path and every day is fulfilling and exciting and different and eye-opening and full of joy :-) Well, most days at least :-)

I still haven't heard from EPIK but I talked to some people who have taught in Korea or have some knowledge of it and they said the process is usually quite slow so it's not surprising or abnormal. In any case, I feel like one way or another I'll be wherever I need to be at the right time :-)

In the meantime, Vancouver is gorgeous in its own glorious way. The ocean looks amazing and I love the freshness in the air. I've also been enjoying cappuccinos, homemade pita pizza, butternut squash soup, pumpkin seeds, shopping for boots (and buying some really awesome ones!), trying on headbands and hats, feeling cozy by the fireplace, eating spicy noodles with noodle loving friends, watching hilarious Korean dramas (that also feature great fashion!), listening to 90's music, watching Ghostbusters, planning my Winter vacation (my friend from Korea is coming to visit!), and watching leaves fall to the ground (it's more interesting than it sounds).

Here's to a wonderful Autumn! I hope it brings everyone joy, energy, and strength to carpe diem!

Happy Autumn!

And it really does feel like Autumn now - crisp air, some colourful trees (but very few in my corner of the world - most of the ones here stay green year round), layered clothing and cozy boots, and I've even turned on the fireplace a few times. Oh, and all those tasty cups of warming tea and bowls of comforting soup - yay!

I sent my application to EPIK so all I can do now is wait and hope that I will get an interview soon. It's hard when you can't actually DO anything - you just have to wait and wait and try to be patient.

This is a beautiful traditional house on the campus of my friend's university (in Daegu). It was amazing to see - the architecture is so completely different and so soft and gentle on your eyes, I really liked it. It would be great to have a luxury house that looks like an old traditional house on the outside but has modern comforts on the inside. :-)

I miss Korean food! I had delicious seafood rice porridge when I first arrived there and I've been craving it so badly but I don't know exactly how to make it, and it wouldn't be the same anyway. Agh, I miss everything! Must remind self - accept and enjoy the present moment and make the most of every second :-)

Have a beautiful October weekend!

In a new moment

My, has it been a long time! And yet, this being Summer (for a little while longer at least), it still feels like the same sunny, relaxing moment it was during my last entry. Even more relaxing actually, since I am now finished handing in case studies and writing my final exam at school, hooray! I love the feeling of relief, freedom, and excited energy that I get whenever a big project/assignment/exam is completely done and finished with. Whew. And then it's on to the next thing :) It is fantastic that we are always able to grow, expand, learn new things, and find new directions to go in no matter where we happen to be in life. The opportunities are literally infinite.

My next adventure will involve some traveling, hopefully in Europe and California. I have always loved traveling. It amazes me how differently people live all over the world, and really brings a new perspective on life seeing that the way you grew up is completely not the only way, but just a tiny option in a sea of possibilities. Getting immersed in a new environment, experiencing new sights, sounds, tastes, interactions makes me feel very alive and it forces me to live in the moment, discovering everything in the now as if I was a child again. I love the history, architecture, deeply rooted culture, and slower pace of Europe. The food isn't bad either :)

Now that Summer is slowly coming to an end, it is a great time to make some plans and goals for a brand new year. During Autumn we will begin to go inward and gather everything we need like little squirrels preparing for a long winter. My preparations this year will include much packing and trip-planning. How we prepare sets the tone for what is to come, and I hope this coming time will be filled with passion, growth, beauty, and eye-opening experiences :)