The Inca and Rouault

* Last week, all day the light outside my window seemed very strange. The light reflecting off the building next to me was yellow. I thought that the skies would open up and it was going to be the worst storm I've ever experienced. When I went out later that afternoon I found that it wasn't a rainstorm, it was a sandstorm! The sand was blowing in from the Gobi desert. Apparently these 'yellow sand' storms are pretty common here, but this was the worst it has been in 10 years. About half of the people walking around had masks on; I kept thinking, maybe I should stop and buy one. All of the cars parked on the street have a thick layer of yellow sand on them. Reminds me of home, after a fire when it looks like its snowing ash and the cars are covered in it.
* I have a new goal of learning how to cook one new Korean dish a week. My friend Sunny is teaching me. This week we made h-oh-dak! This was Melissa's favorite dish when she came to visit. Its like a Korean churro, but circular, and the cinnamon and sugar also has peanuts and sesame seeds in it. And now I know how to make it!!! MMmmmmm!!! Also, I guess my goal has now inspired Sunny's husband, who has committed to cooking one dinner a week for her. Apparently, having a foreigner that can cook better than he can has threatened him into proving he can be a better Korean cook than me. I was thinking about joining the Korean facebook know as cafe.naver and posting instructions and my experience as a foreigner making mundane, simple, Korean foods. If I do, I will post a link so you guys can have access to my Korean recipes as well.
* Well, last weekend was officially the first day of spring, so I decided to wear some spring inspired clothes. I wore a brightly colored dress that had pinks and blues, and all day long people were commenting about how bright it was. I guess that even though it was officially spring, people aren't dressing for it yet; they are still wearing blacks, browns, and dark greens. Its almost April people, can we wear a little color?!?!
For those of you who read my blogs regularly, you probably remember what happened the last time I wore a dress to work... it started snowing. Well, you can imagine what happened when I wore my bright spring dress that day, the storm clouds came rolling in to cover up that sunshine. And once again I found myself walking home with the snow falling. I swear, that is the last time I wear a dress to work until it is summer!
** I was walking to work and I saw some cute fuzzy white face under a car. I thought oh, what an interesting looking cat, it kinda looks like those smashed faced rabbits they sell at E Mart. I turned around to see the cat hopping, of course after that I had to go back and investigate the situation further. Sure enough, it was a rabbit hiding under a parked car. I couldn't believe it! I reached into my snack bag and pulled out some carrots for him, he took them and ate them right away! I wanted to rescue him but I also couldn't be late for work because it was my boss's first day back after being in Los Angeles for a week and I knew rescuing a bunny would not be a valid excuse for her as to why I was late to work. So I promised the bunny that I would come back at lunch and if he was still there then he could come home with me.
I came back at lunch time but he was gone! I was heart broken. I felt so bad that I didn't do the right thing and rescue him. Later that afternoon it started snowing, and I mean really snowing, like blizzard conditions! I was so worried about the poor bunny! My dad said it was ok because some kid coming home from school must have seen the bunny too and brought him home with her, and not to cook for dinner, but to keep as a pet. I'm sticking with this story so don't try to tell me otherwise!
* Whenever I ask Koreans, what are you doing this weekend, they usually answer, "I am going to church." Now, I don't know if this is a standard English phrase that Koreans learn when they are studying English, or if church is just the place to be on the weekends. Is it mandatory to go to church if you are Korean? I asked my friend Vicki who has been living here for 7 years, and she told me a very interesting story about what happened when a foreigner decided to attend a Korean church. She said that the person arrived at the church and the people were very welcoming and kind to him. They then lead him to the basement of the church where all of the other "not perfect Koreans" were located. Here he sat with Koreans with down syndrome, autism, sitting in wheel chairs etc. Since he was not perfectly Korean as well, he needed to be in the basement watching the church service on closed television. When Vicki told me this story I couldn't believe it, but it is just one of those stories that is so strange you couldn't make it up.
* Lucas, get ready for one hell of a show when you come to Japan! Apparently, my dance teacher wants to show off how much she has taught me in these past few months. She is burning me a cd with the music from class, and lending me a special costume from the performance team. Oh lord!!!! She wants me to do all the belly dance routines! Hahahah!
* This weekend I went to two different museums. I went to see the Inca exhibit, and Georges Rouault. The Inca exhibit had a lot of archeology finds. They even had some of the natural made mummies on display! Amazing!!!! The mummy of the woman still had her hair and clothing intact! She also had a mummified infant with her that was equally well preserved.
The next museum I went to was at the art center. I got to see many of Rouault's oil paintings. He was famous for his paintings of clowns, and of Jesus Christ. (You can draw your own opinions from that one without my help.) We actually went to the museum to see the Monet exhibit, but the line was longer than a water ride a Disneyland during a hot summer day! No joke! The estimate was a 4 hour wait to get into the exhibit, and once in, you will have to elbow your way to get close enough to see a painting. Thank goodness I went to the Monet museum in Paris a few years ago so I didn't feel the desperate need to stand in that line to see his work, as amazing as it is. Seeing Rouault was a good alternative, since I had never seen his work in person.
* After going to the museums, I went to Itaewon to the foreign foods market. Its a bit of a black market store, where they sell foods from both Costco, and from the army base. I spent $30 on dried cherries and granola. I know, I know, but sometimes you just need to splurge on comfort foods from home. I also went out for Indian food that night.... Mmmmmm, sometimes you just gotta treat yourself! Garlic Nann!!!!
** Today, I went hiking with a group I found on Craig's List. (I love Craig's List!) The hike didn't start off to well though. I had an email from the founder of the group that said,"take the green line to the Seoul National University, exit #3 of the subway, and be at the 711 near the exit by 9am. Well, I took the green line and got off the subway at the Seoul National University of Education, found exit #3, and even found a 711. I though I was doing pretty good for myself because I was even 10 minutes early. I got myself a coffee at the 711 and waited for the group to arrive. But by 9am there was no one there. So I called the leader and he told me that I was at the wrong 711. In fact, I was at the wrong Seoul National University! I went to the Seoul National University of Education, not the Seoul National University, both of which are on the green line!!! Who does that?!?! Who gives two universities virtually the same damn name?!?!? To be fair, in Korean, the names of the universities are totally different. They are only written similarly in English.
Once I finally arrived at the correct 711 at the correct exit #3 of the correct Seoul National University, I met with 3 guys and one other girl. It was a great group! I laughed so much! It was a nice hike, not too difficult, though there was a rock climbing section at the summit that was a little daunting. After the hike we all went to a good Thai food restaurant. Unfortunately, one of the guys left his $5,000 watch in the mens room at the restaurant and by the time he realized what he had done, it was gone. I felt so bad for him, his mom gave it to him, and now someone else just inherited a great watch. He handled it so much better than I would have! I would have been on the floor crying in a fetal position!