lost in translation. again.

FINALLY figured out what this is about: pre-tday entry where i ask "what do americans eat for thanksgiving" and students answer "rice cakes!"

apparently, in KOREA, at Christian (non-Catholic) churches, they celebrate American Thanksgiving by giving out free 떡 rice cake at church. (something about puritans being some type of christian and escaping english protestants). altho why the korean PROTESTANTS (mostly) celebrate this holiday i'm not sure. perhaps some sort of ritualistic YES WE DROVE THEM OUT OF OUR COUNTRY, THOSE DIFFERENT FREAKS. or something of that nature.

(weird mood)

today is a good day.

it started out good (well mostly) when dennis woke me up at 7:30AM for a family breakfast. where 3 of us got rice and 김치찌개 and 2 of us (me and dennis) got scrambled eggs, bacon, and toast. woohoo! then i moped around for a few hours trying to wake up (i was somewhat zombielike, body moving around but not really awake in the brain area). then i showered (that helped a little) and we went out for some deeeeeelicious lunch of chicken and jook and samgyetangesque stuff. then i got dropped off at home so i could collect my things and meet jamal at angel-in-us. it was very productive! i wrote 4 letters!!!

and also discovered a new favorite drink. i'm gonna start going to the gym every day jus so i can drink one of these a week. it's a 밤라떼. i jus discovered on google that "angel-in-us coffee" is actually java city under a different name in korea. nice. too bad this still means no 밤라떼 in america. also discoverd that if you google "angel in us coffee korea" my blog is the 3rd hit for a prior entry on their green tea lattes. interesting. they are my favorite korean cafe chain bcaaaaaaaaaaaause their drinks are the sweetest. they are not as loud as other coffee shops. and they don't let ppl smoke inside. so yayyy for them.

anyways, afterwards. i went to visit subway store unni. she is seriously such an amazing person. i am so glad to have met her here in korea. i foresee lots of visiting her and learning from her. she is seriously so nice (and not in that creepy i'm gonna make you teach me english way). she sincerely is always so happy to see me (even more so when i do NOT buy stuff) and is always asking after my health and how tired i've been and whether life in korea is beating me up. she always gives the best most uplifting advice and stuff. and is always worrying that i am "alone" in korea. and how hard it must be away from my family.

today she made me feel better about having trouble with making friends here. basically, i was freaking out that i had a personality/character problem bc i am not very successful (nor trying) to make friends here and she was like omg no you can't think that. it's not your personality. there are just not very many ppl here whose personalities match (are compatible) with yours. wherever ppl go in the world, there are ppl who fit and don't fit. and she was saying how there are few actually bad and good ppl (dichotomy) but rather there are ppl who we are either compatible with or not to some degree or another. which got met thinking, and in agreeance about the truthiness of her statements. and made me feel loads better. there are THOUSANDS (ok maybe jus LOTS) of reasons why i am not compatible with the ppl here in cheongju, language being just the first. and that's not my fault. so yes, she made me feel much better. and that was only ONE of her uplifting things.

then i hurried home bc imo was making 갈비찜 for me. she looked up recipes ALL day yesterday online and then tried a practice at lunch yesterday. today was pretty good. nothing like Mommy's, which is the ultimate best i have ever had anywhere, but it was definitely satisfactory. also, she has never made galbi before at home. and never thinks she would have if not for me. she is really really nice. last week somehow it came up that i ate galbi every night for a month straight before coming to korea bc my parents knew i would find it hard to come by in korea bc it's expensive and "beef" from china is really cardboard. so in the past week, imo's made some sort of galbi or beef for me 3x. her kids are ecstatic cuz they've never eaten so much meat before. and i know it's expensive so i tried not to make a big deal so she wouldn't feel like she should always make it for me. but i think she knows that. she commented on how silently and efficiently i ate tonight. hehe. oh well. the meatlover in me will never die. =)