Summer Lovin', Happenin So Fast

So I'm sitting at my work desk right now, bored. Dunno what to do with myself. Gaddafi-on-the-run, Beyonce pregnancy, false-starting Bolt and psycho Gaga news boring me stiff (How did I put Gaddafi in the same sentence as those other people? :?). I dunno.

First week back at school after our summer vacation, so I'm not teaching this week. Just desk warming (common term in SoKo expat vocab). It's kinda fun. I realised I'm so stingy with my thoughts- there are lots of them! So whether or not someone's reading this, I figure I need to just blog about anything and everything and not over-think it. A good friend, Vuyiswa Kumalo recommended I read this blog indieBerries by a lass in the same boat as I (Saffer teaching English in Korea) and I had such a good laugh. She writes what she likes,and I love that.

So here's my attempt at sharing what's on my mind today:

1. I need clothes, but I hate shopping (especially coz there's too much choice in Korea). I need to get over it.

2. I think I'm on a diet. Not a diet, just a lifestyle change that'll result in weight-loss (Same thing? I think not).

3. People are really obsessed with these Hollywood celebrities. Like, emotionally involved even. It's really  funny.

4. I love new music. Now listening to a YouTube mix of Fat Freddy's Drop. Intro courtesy of Kamo Hartell.

5. There are so many things to be done: learn how to play the guitar (don't laugh!), start working out, learn more Korean. Praying for time management skills- join me, will you?

6. Am I gonna stay in Korea for another year?

7. Somalia

8. It's so weird when people say 'Please sing for me!'. What do you mean? I'm not an MP3 you can just press play on demand. You're weird. Or maybe I'm just stage-frightfull (it's true).

9. This fruit shake I made for breakfast is not blended well. My blender is LOUD so when I made it yesterday, I tried to speed up the process. So here I am, chewing my way through my smoothie.

10. People who lead healthy lifestyles inspire me.

11. I will have to get serious about updating this lice more often.

12. Hoping the new English teacher at my school adapts well. I need to help there as much as I can.

13. Usain Bolt's arrogance gave him a false start. Shame.

14. I'm thinking too much (but what else do people do with their brains??).
15. Why do Koreans wear couples clothes? Or why am I not over it yet?



KissSing- I'm part of an acapella group. You didn't know? Now you know and here we are



Saffers at the IAAF opening ceremony. Horrible quality pic with quality people. Ehhee. Forgive me



The last bit of my smoothie breakfast

Remember THIS?! 

Things that made me laugh to day. Again, pardon the French.

Still can't get over it

Lost In Translation

Just as Tsotsi Taal, Snoop-Dizzle Izzlin', Gibberish and Pretorian have become socially acceptable in their designated and wanna-be designated areas, so has Konglish grown on many a Korean, and now even wannabe-Koreans(Moi and friends).

No guessing that Konglish is the marriage between the words and languages English and Korean. Of course marriage is the best word to use considering the joy and laughter (I know that's not always true) that come with the union. I'm talking, the real LOLs, LMAOs, and Kwaaaaa's of the world.

Most of the time, Koreans are too shy to let you hear them trying to speak English, out of fear that the Konglish might just creep up on them and leave them the joke of the moment. Although I wouldn't laugh at them for trying, I understand where they're coming from.

Because you always find the few who aren't shy of making the mistake (It's cute. But hilarious). They are business owners and whoever they've put in charge of their advertising and communication. Guilty guilty guilty.

I really understand that their business-minded and diligent nature is the reason they'll do whatever it takes to cater for the now many English-speaking people in their country, but what I don't think they realise, is that they even offer us daily confusion and laughter to write home about, instead. Read the subliminal! 

South Africans, I know we're all too familiar with direct translation. So laugh all you like, but remember how guilty we often are.

Taking Konglish to the next level, please brace yourselves and chuckle quietly.

What's Itarian??

Grass of beer in the Itarian restaurant. Yes. Deericious. 

o_O

Charming sperring there 

Maybe wif a takkie boot too?

Have some break? I'm not sure what that means.

So profound! Even though I dunno who Nodody is

Shinning? That's like kicking someone using your shin or something? *in* my side. ha!

Excuse me while I try figure this out o_O

Thanks, you too!

Pardon?

Hahahahahahahah!!!

Courtesy of Nick Poninski via FB 

How I Know Koreans are Black

I see it everyday, the similarities between Koreans and Black and/or Coloured South Africans. I have to tell you a bit about it.

Park Myung Su from Daegu, South Korea, Thabo Ndlovu from Soweto and Jerome Melkos from Cape Town actually have more in common than you'd imagine.

1. Thick, gold chains. (Why, Patricia, why?!)

   
   
2. Never scared to speak to strangers who don't speak your language, in your language (Solution: Nod and  smile).

   
   
3. Pointing out people's physical flaws to them and thinking it's okay.

   
   
4. Having at LEAST one alcoholic in your family. He (or she) embarrasses you all the time and brings shame to the family name, but alas, we cannot choose our family, so we fight with them and love them always.

   
   
5. Proudly owning a car that's dropped and kitted with a sub woofer instead of a boot (trunk, U.S friends).

   
   
6.  ... rolling through the hood, windows rolled down, music loudly blaring like 'street cred' will buy you a future.

   
   
7. Taking as much pride in wearing brand names, as you do in your own surname. The victims: Lacoste, Puma, Dickies, Fila, Nike, True Religion, Gucci, Louis Vuitton and too many more.

   
   
8. Popping the colour of your lumo coloured golfer tee for extra flavour.

   
   
9. Needing one thing, and one thing only for a dish to qualify as a good meal. For Koreans, it's rice. For us in S.A, it's meat.

   
   
10. Strict, old school, over-protective parents who take pride in embarassing you in public. The bigger the audience, the better (for them).

    
    
11. An acute obsession with emo, I-can't-live-without-you love songs. Metro fm RnB Sunday listeners, I see you! Kpop enthusiasts, I see you too!

    
    
12. Light skin is right skin; some even do the skin bleachin'. And ooh, don't forget your umbrellas for the sun! I learn we call ones for the sun 'parasols'. 

    
    
13. Good table manners were taught at your 'Model C' school (what does that even mean, by the way?), and not at home. BUT if you're Korean, your traditional (lack of) table manners follow you wherever you go.

    
    
14. Noisiness is in your blood. On the phone, when you've had too much to drink, when you're sad, when you're happy. 

    
    

    And here, a few pics as evidence:

    
    

La Parasol

(Toit!True Religion jeans, Nike kicks, Gucci man bag. Ballin' like a Durban kwaito DJ)

My 10 year old student in his Polo shorts. o_O

So it protects you from the sun and makes you whiter at the same time? Say what??

Street cred on another level. Note the sound system in the face please!

And those are just a few I can think of right now. Just thought to share my daily source of amusement and close-enough reminder of what I left back home; the fuel to my Proudly-South-African flame. ^^,

Meet Me At The River

One of our small group meetings at the Sincheon River (May, 2011)

That says Hwanta. Konglish for Fanta

One of my most surprising realisations since getting here, has been how God wanted to show me that there is no land too foreign and unfamiliar for Him to draw me nearer. Coming to a historically Buddhist country, it felt like a far fetched hope to use this year to work on my relationship with God. Of course, that was me thinking like the human I am, brushing over the fact that He created it all, would use it all, and actually needed to steal me away from all the 'noise' back home so I could make no excuses for not hearing Him clearly. 

So here we are, 3 South African girls, having our noise-free (the only noise comes from us! teehee), weekly small group session at the river where we confide in, share, eat, laugh and pray with one another.

That was not intended to sound like a narration from the movie Eat.Pray.Love (haven't even seen it). I meant every word :)

Catch Up_ Hong Kong Sevens

Impulsive? Absolutely! Knowing one another for only two months at the time, impulsive is exactly what this decision was. A few days before the Hong Kong Sevens tournament, Raquel and I booked flights and accommodation just to go and support her good friends playing for the S.A team at the Hong Kong leg of their season.

Sevens Rugby is the rugby we know, with altered rules. Just 7 members per team instead of the usual 15 and 7 intense minutes per half instead of the usual 40minutes. It was my first time at a live 7s game, and boy did I not expect it to be the crazy fun it was.

In no time, the 0.001% spontaneous Keke was on an evening, 3 hour flight to Hong Kong. Who woulda ever thought!? All the way there, I'm looking at Raquel and asking "Where on earth are we going?!" and at the same time praying all goes smoothly. You know how it is- the 1 time you decide to be impulsive, something goes wrong. I was afraid of exactly that!

Say Hi! to spontaneous Keke

Hong Kong being one hour behind Korea, we landed with an extra 60mins to breathe and find our way to our resting place. It's 11pm there and we are using a piece of paper with directions we got from the guest house's website.

We get on a bus headed to Causeway Bay. It's a double decker bus and we're seated up top, with another foreigner sitting in front of us. Non-Asians have never stood out as much as they do in Asia. This helps though, coz whenever I'm lost, I just follow the white guy and 9 times out of 10, it's a good call.

The bus that almost took us too far

The case exactly. Raquel and I both dose off on the bus, and at one of the stops I wake up and see the white guy getting off. "Raquel! Wake up! The white guy is getting off. I think that's our cue." She doesn't hesitate. We're up and following him down.

Luckily, Hong Kong has many people who speak English, so we double check with one of the young girls on the bus. "We wanna go here.." (pointing at the map). False alarm to follow the foreigner, but still a good call coz we were close. Hehe.

We get off, and not even 5mins being off the bus, a couple notices we're lost and offers help. They look at our  paper and point us in the right direction (Asians are so helpful. God's little angels always on our path).

After 20minutes of walking up and down the same road with two overnight bags, and a Springbok blanky in hand, we bump into 4, drunk, French speaking people who make it their duty to find our place for us since they know how it feels being a lost tourist. More little angels!

FOMO blanky!

Ha! Dodgy does not even begin to describe the place that sold such a good pic on the web (as they always do!). The elevator was lined with old boxes, and the spot was even dodgier. A good hour went by, us explaining to the lady that we had actually told her we'd arrive after midnight til the drunk owner just opened up her messy room for us to sleep in. What a joke!

An hour or two's rest, South African inspired outfits, and off to the Sevens we went. First, we needed to go to the (VERY fancy) hotel where the players stayed to get our tickets from the boys. A quick tour of the area and then on the subway to the stadium. The rest of the action packed day, I'll eave to the pics to explain.

Ready to cheer on the Bokke!

Bye bye dodgy guest house!

Feelin unworthy to be in even the lobby of the fancy Marco Polo

Foggy-yet-cool view around the corner from the Marco Polo

Sold out tickets? Not for us!

Pretty Hong Kong Dollars

I thought we were going to the rugby, not a KISS concert

Begging for tickets

Raquel ordered us alcohol-free beer. WTH? (Mommy, I promise!)

New Zealand supporters. Can you say Jock, bru!?

Spongebob crew stealing the limelight

Oom Piet and crew flew all the way from S.A! I love my country

South stand madness

What we came for

Even Mr.T didn't wanna miss out

Canadian supporters pitched with no pants. 

Therea int no party like a Red Bull party- even in Hong Kong

And straight after watching the games, we said our goodbyes and back to SoKo we went. I have never made such good, international use of 24 hours! Raquel Lyle- I thank you!